The Lakers, who also got 27 points from rookie Dalton Knecht, stretched their NBA win streak to five games and grabbed a share of third in the Western Conference at 9-4 despite James not managing a fifth consecutive triple double.
James finished with 21 points, seven rebounds and five assists while Brandon Ingram had 32 points for the host Pelicans in a losing cause.”Big time win. We want all the wins we can get. We don’t have no time to feel out the first month or two. Every game is important. To get this win in a hostile environment was big for us,” James said.
James made back-to-back 3-pointers, the last with 37 seconds remaining to give the Lakers a 101-97 lead.
“It was about executing down the stretch and making big plays,” said James, who was emotional about his late heroics at age 39 in his 22nd season.
“Just living in the moment. Being able to still make plays and make big shots at this point in my career, that’s what you live for and you’ll never be able to get those moments back when you’re done.”
A layup by Jeremiah Robinson-Earl lifted the Pelicans within two but James and Knecht sank free throws in the final seconds to seal the victory.
“He was spectacular,” James said of Knecht, the 17th pick in this year’s NBA Draft. “We needed every shot he made. He came through big time for us.”
At Toronto, Jayson Tatum sank a 28-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Boston Celtics a 126-123 overtime victory over the Raptors.
“I had to make a play,” said Tatum, who went only 7-of-19 from the floor but was 5-of-12 from 3-point range.
“I missed so many shots in the second half I was bound to hit one.”
Tatum said he takes direction from Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla to have an impact every night, even if it is not always in the same manner.
“Joe always challenges me to dominate, however that looks on any given night. Shots aren’t always going to fall but are you impacting the game, are you impacting your teammates? That’s just what I try to do.”
Jaylen Brown led the Celtics with 27 points while Tatum just missed a triple double with 24 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists.
Austrian center Jakob Poeltl led Toronto with an NBA career-high 35 points.
– No Wemby in Spurs loss –
At Charlotte, LaMelo Ball scored a game-high 26 points and sank two deciding free throws with 7.1 seconds remaining to give the Charlotte Hornets a 115-114 victory over Milwaukee.
Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo — who had his first triple double of the season with 22 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists — missed a potential game-winning jump shot with two seconds remaining.
Taurean Prince scored 23 points for the Bucks and Bobby Portis added 21 off the bench.
In another nail-biter, Sacramento star De’Aaron Fox scored 49 points to lead the Kings over visiting Utah 121-117.
At Dallas, Kyrie Irving and reserve Daniel Gafford each scored 22 points and Luka Doncic added 16 to lead the host Mavericks over San Antonio 110-93. At 6-7, Dallas snapped a four-game losing skid.
“It’s good. Our approach for the game was good, shootaround was great, energy was good, everybody was having a positive mindset going into today’s game,” Gafford said. “We know what we have to do. We’re trying to figure it out on the fly.”
The Spurs (6-8) were without star French big man Victor Wembanyama, who missed his first gane of the season with a bruised right knee.
He suffered the injury on Friday when he banged knees with Davis in the fourth quarter of a loss to the Lakers.
“Wemby” – last season’s NBA Rookie of the Year – has averaged 22.7 points, 10.5 rebounds and 3.7 blocked shots a game this season.
By AFP