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LeBron James began his NBA-record 23rd season for the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday after missing almost the first full month of the campaign due to sciatica.
James, 40, missed the Lakers’ first 14 games of the season with sciatica but was quickly back into his rhythm before finishing with 11 points, 12 assists and three rebounds.
There was still time for James to bring up another milestone, his two three-pointers taking him past Reggie Miller for sixth place on the NBA’s all-time regular season three-pointers list.
Luka Doncic, who led the Lakers scoring with 37 points, welcomed James’ return to the line-up.
“It’s been a long time since he played basketball, so I think for the first game back, he looked amazing,” Doncic said. “He’s gonna keep getting his rhythm, and he’s gonna help us a lot.” Doncic was backed with 26 points from Austin Reaves with Deandre Ayton adding 20.
Utah led by 11 points during the second quarter but were blown away in the third as the Lakers poured in 37 points to open up a sizeable double-digit lead heading into the final frame.
The Detroit Pistons stretched their longest win streak since 2008 to 11 games with a 120-112 victory in Atlanta, snapping the Hawks’ five-game win streak.
The Pistons, who lead the Eastern Conference at 13-2, got 25 points and 10 assists from Cade Cunningham and 24 points with eight rebounds from Jalen Duren. Jalen Johnson sparked Atlanta (9-6) with 25 points, nine rebounds and eight assists.
At Brooklyn, Jaylen Brown scored 29 points and Payton Pritchard added 22 and 10 rebounds to spark the Boston Celtics in a 113-99 victory over the Nets.
Desmond Bane scored 23 points and reserve Anthony Black added 21 to lead the Orlando Magic over visiting Golden State 121-113.
Stephen Curry led the Warriors (9-7) with 34 points while Jimmy Butler added 33 in a losing cause.