LeBron James, Lakers rally past Grizzlies to remain unbeaten at home

LOS ANGELES — If there were doubts about LeBron James’ ability to consistently string together strong performances in his 22nd NBA season, he’s more or less erased them this week.

James had 35 points and recorded his third consecutive triple-double on Wednesday night, leading the Lakers to a 128-123 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies as they remained unbeaten at home this season.

“Just being very patient and taking what the defense gives me, I’ve been doing it for a while,” said James, who turns 40 next month. “So I understand time and score. I understand the waves and the swings of the game. So it’s nothing new to me.”

The Lakers (7-4) improved to 6-0 at Crypto.com Arena, their most consecutive home wins to start a season since 2010-11.

“He’s mastered the game,” Coach JJ Redick said of James. “And we don’t win that game, obviously, without him.”

With Anthony Davis in foul trouble, James (14 assists and 12 rebounds) once again led the Lakers in the game’s most precarious moments, helping keep them afloat for most of the fourth quarter.

“He’s the master of the game,” forward Rui Hachimura said of James. “He always reads the game, he doesn’t force anything. He just goes [with] the flow. He can pass the ball, he can score, he can defend, he can rebound, everything.”

But when James and Davis were on the court together late, the Lakers closed out the Grizzlies. James and Davis scored or assisted on 19 of the Lakers’ final 23 points to secure the win.

Davis scored 11 of his 21 points in the fourth quarter and added 14 rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots in 32 minutes. Hachimura and Dalton Knecht each scored 19 points, while Austin Reaves finished with 18 points and six assists.

The Lakers jumped out to a 38-26 lead after the end of the first quarter behind James’ hot start, which included a buzzer-beating 3-pointer before the opening period ended.

But the Lakers’ defense took a step back from there, in part because of their ball security.

The Lakers had seven turnovers in the second quarter, helping Memphis outscore them 38-27 in the period to trim its deficit to 65-64.

Jaren Jackson Jr. (29 points, seven rebounds) hit a 3-point shot early in the third to give the Grizzlies their first lead since early in the first, 67-65.

“We kind of lost our way there in the third quarter,” Redick said.

Knecht kept the Lakers in the game by scoring eight points in the final three minutes of the third, including a pair of 3-pointers.

“He was the catalyst for our comeback,” Redick said of Knecht. “He was fantastic, not just shooting the ball. We’ve been challenging him lately to just be tougher, be more in tune with our game plan. Not gonna say it was perfect, but baby steps. And he was great.”

James opened the fourth by assisting Knecht on a 3-pointer for his 10th assist and the rookie’s final points of the night, cutting the Grizzlies’ lead to 96-94. Knecht finished 5 for 5 from behind the arc as the Lakers hit a season-high 20 3-point shots.

“They just said the same thing that they always say: just keep shooting the ball and play with confidence,” Knecht said. “JJ has a lot of trust in me and just to go out there and do what I do and shoot the ball, get to the rim, find teammates. And, I got the hot hand. Bron was finding me in transition and I was just letting that thing fly.”

The teams battled for most of the fourth, with neither leading by more than five in the quarter’s first eight minutes, before the two-man game between James and Davis, as well as late shot-making from Hachimura and Reaves, put them over the top.

Memphis got 48 points from its bench, led by Marcus Smart (15 points, six assists) who made his return after missing the last two weeks because of a sprained ankle.

The Lakers will play back-to-back road games against the San Antonio Spurs (Friday) and the New Orleans Pelicans (Saturday) to close out the week. The matchup against the Spurs is the Lakers’ first NBA Cup game, which the Lakers won last year in the NBA’s inaugural in-season tournament.

“I know it kind of was the hype around us last year, but we’re approaching each game – regular-season game or Cup game – as the same,” Davis said. “I don’t think just because it’s a Cup game that we should change how we approach it. We should approach each game the same way and that’s how we’re going to approach it.”