LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James had 30 points, nine assists and seven rebounds and the Los Angeles Lakers overcame Victor Wembanyama’s historic “5×5” statistical performance for their seventh win in nine games, 123-118 against the San Antonio Spurs, Friday night. .
Wembanyama had 27 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists in his first away game against the Lakers. The French rookie sensation added five blocked shots and five steals, making him the youngest player in NBA history and the 15th overall to achieve the rare 5×5 – at least five points, rebounds, assists, blocks and interceptions in a single game.
“He has no ceiling,” James said of Wembanyama. “He can do whatever he wants in his career. Looks like he’s enjoying the game. Looks like he’s doing the job, just from the outside. …I said a long time ago how special he was, and it’s as simple as that.
Wembanyama dropped an assist in a 5×5 game in Sacramento on Thursday night, only to reach the mark a night later in Los Angeles in just 30 minutes and 55 seconds of play – the fewest playing time in a 5×5 performance in the history of the league. .
Wembanyama also joined Michael Jordan as the only players to have at least five steals and five blocks in consecutive games.
“I wonder if (Jordan) did it with victories, not with defeats,” Wembanyama said. “For me, it’s secondary. I hope that in the future we can look back and consider this a good performance, but from today onwards I cannot settle for a defeat.
Wembanyama scored 16 points in a dominant first quarter, but Anthony Davis responded to the challenge from his fellow No. 1 overall pick with impressive play over the next two quarters as the Lakers maintained their lead.
Davis had 28 points and 13 rebounds before spending the entire fourth quarter of the second game in a straight set. Jaxson Hayes played brilliantly in his place against Wembanyama while James led the Lakers to their 12th win in 18 games.
“(James) went through some good stretches and some tough stretches, but overall when we needed him to make plays, make shots, he stepped up and he did it,” said the Los Angeles coach. Lakers Darvin Ham. “Coming out of the All-Star break, everything is a bit upside down. The guys are still trying to get back to where we were before, but I thought (James) was good.
San Antonio closed with a score of 17-5 in the final 3 1/2 minutes, significantly reducing the final margin.
D’Angelo Russell had 22 points and six assists on his 28th birthday, while Rui Hachimura added 17 points for the Lakers, who failed to climb back to ninth in the Western Conference standings despite moving up these last weeks. Los Angeles returned from the All-Star break with a loss to Golden State on Thursday.
James returned strong after missing the Lakers’ last two games to relieve his sore ankle, although he played in the All-Star Game in between.
“I can’t tell you what we’re going to be like every day,” James said. “We just put in the work and live with the results. We approach the game the right way defensively. Offensively, we continue to share the ball. … If we defend, if we get back in transition and if we clean the windows when teams are lacking, we will give ourselves a chance to win every night.”
Wembanyama seized his first opportunity to play under the Lakers’ wall of championship banners by getting off to a bright start, racking up 13 points and three rebounds while drawing two fouls from Davis in the first six minutes of the game. He was up to 20 points at halftime, but was down to 2 of 6 after halftime.
Malaki Branham scored 17 points and Jeremy Sochan had 15 points and 13 rebounds for the Spurs, who have lost three straight and 10 of 11. They are 1-6 on their annual nine-game Rodeo Road Trip .
San Antonio shattered its franchise record with 18 straight losses when these teams last met in December.
FOLLOWING
Spurs: at Utah on Sunday.
Lakers: at Phoenix on Sunday.
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