LeBron James watches from the bench Wednesday as the Lakers take on the Spurs.
Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James missed Wednesday’s road game against the Spurs with a sore right ankle.
Despite his absence, the Lakers rode Anthony Davis (35 points, 17 rebounds) and Russell Westbrook (33 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists) to edge the Spurs 125-121 in overtime.
Davis and Westbrook combined for 14 points as the Lakers went on a 17-4 run to open the fourth and reclaim a 102-101 lead.
“We understand that with (James’ absence) comes the responsibility of making guys around us better,” Westbrook said. “And tonight, I thought A.D. did a great job of just being aggressive all night, miss and makes, finishing well around the basket. He was big for us tonight.”
The veteran duo helped the Lakers rally from a 12-point deficit entering the fourth quarter.
Game Recap: Lakers 125, Spurs 121
Westbrook, acquired in an offseason trade, had 15 points in the final quarter and overtime to eclipse his previous high of 15 points with the Lakers.
“That’s why we felt great about this move,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. “Last year we lost LeBron and A.D. for a long stretch, and we didn’t have enough to sustain throughout the regular season and win in the playoffs. To get a guy like Russ, if one of those guys is down, we have another guy that can put up a monster night like we saw tonight. Paying early dividends in acquiring Russell.”
Davis bumped knees in the closing minute of regulation while attempting to rebound a missed free throw. The Lakers will see how sore Davis’ right knee is before deciding whether he will play Thursday at Dallas, Vogel said.
Davis gave the Lakers another scare in the opening quarter when he remained on the court clutching his right shoulder after a ferocious block of his attempted dunk by Poeltl. Davis’ arm recoiled and he fell to the court from the brunt of the block, leading James to rise from his seat on the bench in concern.
James was initially injured in the first half of Sunday’s victory over Memphis when Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane was knocked down and fell into his right leg.
James finished the game, scoring 19 points on 7-for-19 shooting with six rebounds and six assists in 40 minutes as the Lakers (1-2) earned their first victory of the season.
The Lakers continue their short road swing Wednesday at Oklahoma City before returning home to face Cleveland on Friday.
James, 36, is averaging 26 points, 6.3 rebounds and 5.3 assists through three games.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
