The Los Angeles Lakers brought back LeBron James on Tuesday. At least on the first night, it didn't change the way they did business much.
Led by 37 points and 10 assists from Luka Doncic, the Lakers erased a double-digit deficit to the Utah Jazz in a 140-125 victory. Doncic is currently averaging 34.6 points per game and has scored at least 35 points in seven of the 11 games played this season.
James, debuted this season after missing the first 14 games with sciatica.scored 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting, 12 assists, three rebounds and one steal.
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Austin Reeves also continued his stellar career, scoring 26 points on 7-of-11 shooting, while Deandre Ayton had 20 points and 14 rebounds. And Bronny James scored 3 points just in case.
The game was won at the free throw line, with the Lakers making 28 of 36 and the Jazz just 10 of 11.
The absence of the NBA's all-time leading scorer loomed for a month for the Lakers, but they still managed to jump out to a 10-4 lead before James took the court. Their game plan at that point was essentially to give Doncic and Reaves the ball and get them to work.
The Doncic-Reaves pairing combined to average 62.7 points and 17.1 assists per game, with James out. They combined for 63 points and 11 assists Tuesday, with James taking over some of the ball distribution duties from Reaves. Now the hope is that Doncic's rise and Reaves' breakthrough can continue as long as he shares the ball with James. Tuesday was certainly a good sign.
However, it wasn't the fastest start for the Lakers. The Jazz jumped out to an 11-point lead in the first quarter and held it for most of the first half. The Jazz couldn't miss, and James didn't score until midway through the second quarter.
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Then Doncic came on in the second half. The Slovenian scored 19 points in the third quarter as the Utah offense fizzled out. A four-point halftime deficit became 11 points early in the fourth quarter, and Los Angeles' 14-2 run effectively ended the game.
However, the Lakers kept their best trio in the game for a long time after that, either so they could string together a few extra reps or to send a message at the expense of the Jazz, whose record had fallen to 5-9. Lauri Markkanen and Keyontae George led Utah with 31 points each.
