LOS ANGELES — LeBron James stood outside the paint during the first quarter Saturday night at Staples Center, the Lakers’ season in as bad of a spot as it had been at any point, as he slumped over at his waist. His right arm dangled from his shoulder like cooked pasta as he tried to shake feeling into his fingers.
He had just been fouled and needed to shoot a free throw. But James looked over at the Lakers’ bench and shook his head, coach Frank Vogel quickly taking a timeout. James spent that break receiving treatment on his right arm, a massage gun quickly firing against the muscle, before he came back on the floor and made the free throw.
It was one point — one of 56 in one of the best games he has ever played.
“Whatever happened there,” Vogel said with a grin, “helped shoot the ball the rest of the game.”
With the Lakers desperately needing a win to breathe life into their postseason push and end a four-game losing streak, the 37-year-old James had his best offensive game as a Laker, defying age and eluding defenders and leading his team to a 124-116 victory over the Golden State Warriors.
“Right now, I don’t give a damn about the 56,” James said as he walked off the court. “I’m just glad we got a win.”
After the game, he untucked his golden uniform. Streamers fell. He hugged Warriors star guard Stephen Curry. It wasn’t the NBA Finals — the Lakers are still forever away from those — but it was an all-time performance on a night when the Lakers needed one so badly.
James, one of the best ever, was again close to being at his best.
“There are really no words for it,” Vogel said. “An incredible performance by the best to ever do it.”
He slipped through Golden State’s defense and threw home a reverse one-handed slam. He drilled 3-pointers and bullied for post-up scores in the paint. He got hot. He stayed hot.
He did it all — fittingly with Curry and the Warriors on the other side of the floor.
Curry scored 30 — he and James having battled in four straight NBA Finals at one point during their careers. This time, it was James leading the late-game heroics, slamming home a lob, dishing out a big-time assist and sinking game-icing free throws to save the Lakers from a flurry of late-game turnovers.
“When he has it going like that, there’s really nobody… who can do anything with him,” Russell Westbrook said.
Westbrook built off success attacking the paint Thursday against the Clippers by having one of his best offensive games since the new year, pushing to the rim against a Warriors defense that is badly missing Draymond Green. He scored 20 to go with four rebounds and four assists, playing the kind of game the team had hoped they’d consistently get.
And Carmelo Anthony, like James did in the first half, beat the buzzer to end the third, the fans inside the Lakers’ home building showering them with cheers. Fittingly, he was on the end of James’ final assist — open in the far corner for a three to seal the win after an Austin Reaves offensive rebound.
“It was all eyes on him,” Anthony said. “… I knew something was about to happen.”
James’ 56 points Saturday were just the 19th time in NBA history a 37-year-old player scored at least 40. James did it earlier this season, one day after his 37th birthday. Michael Jordan (eight times), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (four times), Karl Malone (twice), Kobe Bryant, Dirk Nowitzki and Jamal Crawford are the only others to ever do it.
Only Jordan, Bryant and Crawford scored 50 after turning 37. Only Bryant’s 60-point finale outdid James’ 56-point outburst Saturday.
It’s the 13th time in his career he scored 50 points, seventh all time and second among active players. It’s tied for the third most he’s ever scored. It’s been nearly 17 years — 16 years and 350 days to be exact — since James’ first 50-point game.
James and Wilt Chamberlain are the only players to score 50 points for multiple franchises. Each have done it for three.
“He just put us on his back tonight,” Anthony said.
The Lakers hope it’s a sign of a pendulum finally swinging back to their favor, momentum starting to build instead of struggling under an avalanche of disappointment and losing. But the heat isn’t being turned down, the team still in a fight for a spot in the NBA’s playoff play-in tournament.
Drastic decisions can be held off for now, the Lakers able to release some of the pressure that’s been building around them as their losses have been mounting.
“I’ll be able to sleep better tonight,” James said, finally with a feeling worth savoring.
