LeBron James powers shorthanded Lakers to win over

SAN FRANCISCO — Fans from New Zealand and Australia held indicators toward the digital camera. They had traveled 1000’s of miles to watch Warriors star Stephen Curry play.

One signal crossed out “play” and changed it with a frowning face.

They have been instead handled to a regular efficiency from LeBron James, who led the Lakers to a 119-103 win over the Warriors on Thursday, with 26 factors and 11 rebounds. The Lakers saved tempo with the Houston Rockets in a tight race for the No. 4 seed in the West.

Battling a chronic knee injury in the latter phases of the season, Curry watched from the sideline. His absence in the Warriors’ last home sport of the season also put a damper on what may have been another enthralling matchup between two of the league’s largest stars.

Between the artistry of Curry and the physicality of James, they’ve been faces of the NBA, Lakers coach JJ Redick said. But with the 41-year-old James not under contract after this season, the generational stars might never compete on an NBA court against each other again. Redick called the concept “dark.”

“It’s been fun to watch as a fan,” Redick said of the rivalry between Curry and James, “and it’s been fun to be a part of it the last couple years.”

Curry greeted James before the sport. Now a sneaker free agent after his high-profile departure from longtime sponsor Under Armour, Curry honored his modern with a blue and yellow model of the LeBron X iD sneakers.

Trying to keep away from their longest dropping streak of the season, the Lakers (51-29) relied on James to regular the ship. After the Lakers gave up a 9-0 run to start the second quarter, he hit a contested three out of a timeout to get the staff back on observe. He fed the ball to Deandre Ayton, preserving the big man engaged for 21 factors on nine-of-11 capturing with 5 rebounds.

Losing James before Tuesday’s sport against the Thunder added to an emotional week for the Lakers. They misplaced Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves in the same sport in a blowout loss in Oklahoma City last week and had to face the Thunder again without James. Jaxson Hayes was a late scratch Tuesday and stays day-to-day after lacking Thursday’s sport as nicely.

Redick admitted the Lakers weren’t ready to compete against the Thunder at home Tuesday. He acknowledged making an attempt to inject some vitality into his staff by calling early timeouts and subbing out veterans such as Rui Hachimura and Jarred Vanderbilt maybe didn’t help, particularly after a heated exchange with Vanderbilt was caught on digital camera.

“What I told the team today — I think this is important — is we have had a very disjointed season because of all the injuries and throughout the year, we, collectively, staff, players, we’ve had to figure out the best path forward with whatever group is available,” Redick said. “And that’s no different right now. We have to figure out over these next three games and over next week, the best path for this team to play winning basketball.”

Through the emotional ups-and-downs, Redick checks in with Reaves and Doncic daily. Doncic, at present in Spain receiving treatment on his injured hamstring, is in “relatively — relatively good spirits,” Redick said. Doncic is “attacking” his rehab, Redick said, but being away from the staff has taken a toll on his psyche. Reaves, who is out with a Grade 2 left indirect pressure that is predicted to take 4 to six weeks to heal, has benefited from staying with the staff.

“I think for both of those guys, there is, like, a carrot,” Redick said. “If we can get this season extended, they can come back and they can play. Those guys love playing basketball.”

The Lakers misplaced the No. 3 seed, and are preventing to keep home-court benefit over Houston, which received its eighth straight sport Thursday. Both groups have two video games remaining and the Lakers have the head-to-head tiebreaker.