SAN ANTONIO — Anthony Davis had 40 points and 12 rebounds, LeBron James had 15 points, 16 rebounds and 12 assists and the Los Angeles Lakers opened defense of their Emirates NBA Cup title with a 120-115 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night.
James had his career-high fourth straight triple-double.
Victor Wembanyama had 28 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and two blocks for San Antonio. On Wednesday night, he had a career-high 50 points in a 139-130 home victory over Washington.
Davis shot 14 for 26, making 2 of 4 3-pointers, in his highest-scoring game of the season. Austin Reaves added 19 points, Dalton Knecht had 14 and D'Angelo Russell 13.
San Antonio raced to an 11-0 lead, including an alley-oop dunk by Wembanyama from fellow 20-year-old Stephon Castle. Davis scored 16 points in the opening quarter as Los Angeles closed the period on a 21-8 run to take a 31-30 lead.
Castle had 22 points, and Devin Vassell added 15 for San Antonio.
With the Lakers leading 116-115, Paul was called for an offensive foul after attempting to screen Davis following a handoff to Wembanyama for a 3-pointer. The turnover led to a layup by James that gave the Lakers a 118-115 lead with 25 seconds remaining.
The Lakers had a 15-6 advantage on second-chance points, including an 8-0 advantage in the first quarter.
The Lakers are at New Orleans on Saturday night to close out a back-to-back. The Spurs are at Dallas on Saturday night before returning for a three-game homestand.
CP3 now No. 3 all-time
Paul's historically consistent play is one reason the San Antonio Spurs signed the NBA veteran – affectionally referred to as "Point God" by his peers – to a deal last offseason.
And in the first quarter of Friday night's game against the Lakers, Paul made more history, becoming just the third player all-time to notch 12,000 career assists.
The milestone couldn't have been reached in more epic fashion, as Paul connected with Victor Wembanyama for the high-flying alley-oop amid San Antonio's strong start to the game at Frost Bank Center.
Paul entered Friday's action with 11,997 career assists, the most among active players and third-most behind only John Stockton (15,806) and Jason Kidd (12,091), both Hall of Famers. Fittingly enough, LA's Lebron James is next behind Paul, with 11,112 career assists entering Friday's game.
Paul, 39, could very well overtake Kidd at No. 2 on the all-time list in what will likely be his only San Antonio season. Entering Friday's games, he was fifth in the NBA this season with 8.6 assists per game and fifth in overall assists, with 103.
If he keeps up that pace, he's likely to take over the No. 2 spot before Christmas.
