ATLANTA — LeBron James somersaulted onto his feet and pounded his chest.
With the kind of birthday energy normally reserved for a toddler after a big slice of cake, James had just flown all over the court, chasing down a tipped pass, missing a layup, running back onto the court and finally scoring, getting fouled in the process.
On the day he turned 38 years old, James looked like anything but a tired, old road-weary veteran.
Fans in the crowd howled when he slammed, they gasped when he sprinted up and down the court, and they exploded when he made a clutch, deep 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter to give him 40.
And when they saw him hang in the air longer than three Atlanta defenders to score — they couldn’t believe what they were seeing.
Before the game ended with James scoring 47 in a 130-121 Lakers win, there was just one last thing to chant — “M.V.P.”
He became just the third player to score 47 or more points after turning 38 and the first to do it with 10 rebounds or nine assists.
The Lakers overcame a 15-point first-half deficit, beginning with a huge second quarter from James, when he created more than 82% of the Lakers’ points when you add his scoring (16) with the 16 points created from his seven assists.
Down the stretch, Russell Westbrook, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Dennis Schroder and Thomas Bryant all made big plays to seal the win — the Lakers’ second on this road trip, which ends Monday in Charlotte, N.C.
Bryant had 19 points and 17 rebounds, Toscano-Anderson, in his second game back after recovering from an sprained ankle, made all three of his shots and Westbrook had 14 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds.
But it was about James, who walked off the court with his hands in the air while the visiting fans showered him with applause — a moment in a season that hasn’t had that many of them.
