LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James scored his 39,000th point, finishing with 17 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, and the Los Angeles Lakers completed their undefeated NBA intraseason group stage run with a 131-99 victory. Tuesday night’s win over the Utah Jazz.
Anthony Davis had 26 points and 16 rebounds for the Lakers, who are likely to host the quarterfinals early next month to begin the knockout stages of the league’s first in-season tournament. Los Angeles outscored Phoenix, Memphis, Portland and Utah by a combined 74 points in a blowout over the Jazz that gave the Lakers their sixth win in seven games.
The 38-year-old James became the first player in league history to break 39,000 points early in the first quarter. The milestone is another stop in James’ quest to shatter the world’s basketball longevity standards: He started the game averaging 26.4 points per game, by far the most by a player in NBA history who has played 21 seasons.
D’Angelo Russell had 20 points and eight assists for the Lakers, who led by 30 points in the third quarter and eliminated both superstars for good before the start of the fourth quarter. James only played 24 minutes, while Davis dominated for 29 minutes, making 11 of 14 shots and dishing out 4 assists.
Austin Reeves scored 19 points and Christian Wood added a season-high 16 points as Los Angeles improved to 7-1 at home this season while the Jazz fell to 1-6 on the road.
John Collins scored 15 points and Omer Yurtseven scored a season-high 18 points for the Jazz, who dropped to 2-2 in the tournament after nine losses. Seventh loss in three games. The Jazz’s shooting percentage was very low, shooting only 33% in the first half.
Starting wing Cam Reddish played just five minutes before leaving with groin soreness, adding another injury to the Lakers’ roster, leaving them with just nine available players. Jared Vanderbilt (left heel) and first-round pick Jalen Hood Schifino (right knee) have yet to play this season. Gabe Vincent will miss at least 16 games before recovering from a left knee injury and is expected to return next month.
The Lakers still dominated the first half, and Davis scored 17 points and 10 rebounds in the second quarter, leading by 23 points. The Jazz made only 4 of 23 three-pointers and trailed 62-41 at halftime.
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Jazz: Wednesday in Portland.
Lakers: Host Dallas on Wednesday.
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