After , LeBron James returned to the lineup on Sunday night and led the Los Angeles Lakers to victory as if nothing had happened.
James finished just shy of a triple-double and appeared to be largely back to his old self in the Lakers’ 116-110 win over the Memphis Grizzlies at Crypto.com Arena. He has 18 points, eight assists and eight rebounds.
James missed last Sunday’s win over the Portland Trail Blazers for the first time with a business leg. James then missed time at practice last week, including one that was labeled simply for “personal reasons.” He also did not play in Friday’s loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves, and coach JJ Redick had no idea when he would return to the court.
But before the game, Redick revealed that he and James had talked about the star taking time off to recover from his left leg injury — something that sounds like much-needed.
“I played 15 [seasons] and he was emotionally, mentally, physically exhausted, fried. I gave everything I had into this game,” Redick said. “I had nothing left. For guys like him and [Chris Paul]The Tom Bradys of the world, the Roger Federers of the world, it’s hard to fathom that you’ve had that level of sustained excellence for so long because it’s all of you, not just your body.”
The Lakers, who built a 20-point lead at one point in the third quarter, looked like they were on their way to a dominant victory Sunday night. But the game almost turned completely upside down when star man Anthony Davis injured his shoulder during the period after colliding with Grizzlies center Zach Edey.
Davis left the game briefly to go to the locker room, and the Grizzlies cut the game to single digits almost immediately. They ended the third quarter with a 16-5 lead after Davis left the game.
But Davis came back into the game in the fourth quarter to close out the wire-to-wire victory. In the Lakers uniform, he reached season highs with 40 points and 16 rebounds. Austin Reaves had 19 points and eight assists. Those two and James were the only Lakers players to reach double figures.
Jaren Jackson Jr. led the Grizzlies with a loss of 25 points. Ja Morant finished with 20 points, seven rebounds and six assists and Edey finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds off the bench. The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for Memphis, which is now 18-9 on the season.
The Lakers improved to 14-12 with the win, just their second in their last six games. While his sudden absence may have been concerning, James insisted after the game that he was fine health-wise. After a week off and with the Lakers not playing until Thursday when they take on the Sacramento Kings, he should be good.