A game for ageless - Orange County Register

LAKERS

A game for ageless

James scores 42 points as Lakers beat Warriors for fourth consecutive win

The Lakers’ Dorian Finney-Smith, left, steals the ball from the Warriors’ Steph Curry, who scored 37 points. Kevork Djansezian / the associated press

LeBron James celebrates during the Lakers’ victory over the Warriors on Thursday night at Crypto.com Arena. Ronald Martinez / Getty Images

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By Khobi Price

kprice@scng.com

LOS ANGELES — There’s an ironic twist that the Lakers’ first game after the NBA’s trade deadline on Thursday was against the Golden State Warriors.

Because it was Warriors who became synonymous with a “two-timeline” plan — a strategy to extend Golden State’s championship-contending seasons, led by franchise icon Stephen Curry, while also adding surrounding the veteran core with young players (Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody) that could help bridge the gap to a successful post-Curry era.

In a way, the Lakers are now operating on a version of their own two-timeline plan after the acquisitions of 25-year-old five-time All-NBA honoree Luka Doncic and 23-year-old big man Mark Williams this week.

The hope is that Doncic, specifically, will lead the Lakers to a prosperous post-LeBron James era while also increasing the team’s chances of competing for a title this season.

And James showed on Thursday why he and this version of the Lakers are worth continuing to invest in.

With Doncic’s Laker debut likely not coming until Monday, the 40-year-old James scored a season-high 42 points on Thursday, leading the Lakers to a 120-112 win over the Warriors at Crypto.com Arena.

The victory, which put the Lakers at 30-19 on the season, was their fourth straight, eighth in their last nine games and 10th in their last 12.

With his 3-pointer that gave the Lakers a late 115-106 lead with a little over one minute left in the game, James became just the second 40-year-old in NBA history to score at least 40 in a game. He added 17 rebounds and eight assists for good measure.

The other: Michael Jordan, who scored 43 points on Feb. 21, 2003, four days after turning 40.

James was a focal point of the Lakers’ early surge that led to them taking a 26-point lead late in the second.

The four-time MVP knocked down a trio of 3s — with the last one being a 34-footer from the Lakers’ midcourt logo — to give the Lakers a 45-23 lead early in the second that grew to 69-43 later in the quarter.

The Warriors closed the quarter strong, cutting their deficit to 69-49 at halftime and eventually five in the fourth after a Curry 3 trimmed the Lakers’ lead to 109-104.

Curry (37 points on 13-of-35 shooting to go with seven rebounds and four assists) scored more than half of his point total (19) in the fourth.

But the Lakers held on with late-game free throws from James and shot-making from Austin Reaves.

Reaves finished with 23 points, making 15 of 16 free throws to go with four assists and three steals.

Gabe Vincent had 15 points on five 3s. Jarred Vanderbilt added five points, 14 rebounds and three assists in 21 minutes.