LeBron James scored a season-high 39 points — 16 of them in a decisive stretch — as the visiting Los Angeles Lakers defeated the San Antonio Spurs 143-138 on Saturday in the second game of a back-to-back between the teams.
The Lakers played without Anthony Davis, who has a left calf contusion, and Patrick Beverley, sitting out the second of a three-game suspension. But James and Dennis Schroder were plenty tough to handle as Los Angeles won for the fifth time in its past six games.