Anthony Davis scored a season-high-equaling 40 points despite suffering what he described as a “little stinger” in his left shoulder in a 116-110 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies Sunday evening at Crypto.com Arena.
Davis suffered the injury with 5 minutes, 46 seconds left in the third quarter when he made contact with Memphis rookie center Zach Edey going for a rebound. Davis remained in the game for 16 seconds, then went to the locker room with the Lakers leading 81-61. He returned with 9:19 left in the fourth quarter and the lead cut to 92-81.
“Just a little stinger,” Davis said. “Went in the back, got some work done. Had four fouls anyways, was time for me to go out.”
Davis pulled down a season-high 16 rebounds, topping his previous high of 15 set Dec. 6 against Atlanta. The 40 points matched his season high, set Nov. 15 against San Antonio. It was the 22nd time in his 13-season career he had at least 40 points and 15 rebounds in the same game.
LeBron James had 18 points and a game-high equaling eight assists after missing the previous two games because of a left foot injury. Austin Reaves had 19 points and eighth assists for the Lakers (14-12).
The Lakers never trailed in a game that was tied twice, 9-9 and 11-11, in the first quarter. They led 30-20 at the end of the first quarter, 64-46 at halftime and 86-77 after three quarters. The Lakers held their biggest lead, 81-58 with 6:22 to play in the third quarter.
Jaren Jackson Jr. led four Grizzlies in double figures with 25 points while Ja Morant added 20 before a crowd announced at 15,106.
Memphis (18-9) entered Sunday’s play with four consecutive victories and 10 in their previous 11 games.
James’ 34 minutes brought him within 10 of breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s career record for most minutes played, 57,446. James is expected to break the record Thursday when the Lakers play at Sacramento.
Laker guard D’Angelo Russell’s two 3-point baskets increased his total for his 10-season career to 1,512, moving past Bojan Bogdanovic into 50th place on the all-time NBA list.
The Lakers announced Sunday afternoon that they had recalled guard Bronny James after the oldest son of LeBron James scored in double figures for three consecutive games for their NBA G League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers — 16 against the San Diego Clippers Dec. 7, 30 against the Valley Suns on Thursday and 16 against the Suns on Friday.
The Lakers also announced Sunday they had recalled forward Maxwell Lewis from South Bay.
Neither played Sunday.