Happy King Day: Lakers overwhelm Spurs on LeBron James' birthday

The Los Angeles Lakers cruised to a 121-107 victory over the San Antonio Spurs Wednesday night at the AT&T Center.

And on his 36th birthday, LeBron James was the catalyst. He finished with 26 points, eight assists and five rebounds

On a right-handed jump hook across the middle of the lane with just over six minutes left in the first half, James became the first player in NBA history to score in double figures in 1,000 consecutive games.

The streak, which began on Jan. 6, 2007, eclipses Michael Jordan’s previous record of 866 straight 10-point games.

Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich watched the second half from the locker room. He received two technical fouls for arguing a non-call and was ejected from the game with 3:56 left in the first half.

San Antonio assistant coach Becky Hammon served as acting head coach with Popovich out.

Anthony Davis rebounded from a poor performance in a home loss last week against the Portland Trailblazers, finishing with 20 points, seven rebounds and three blocks.

The two teams will do it again on Friday in San Antonio. The Lakers improved to 3-2 on the year, while the Spurs dropped to 2-2.

The win on the road over the Spurs is the start of 14 of their next 18 games away from Staples Center for the Lakers.

Top player: Along with James, point guard Dennis Schröder continues to play well, finishing with 21 points, four assists and four rebounds. But he also had five turnovers.

What I liked: Wesley Matthews entered Wednesday’s game 0-for-8 from beyond the arc but hit an impressive 6-of-6 from the 3-point line against the Spurs, finishing with 18 points. The only other Lakers to do that are Kobe Bryant (7-for-7) and Nick Van Exel (6-for-6). That’s pretty good company for Matthews.

What I did not like: Lakers allowed 44 points inside the paint. L.A. also continues to be a little careless with the ball on offense, turning it over 17 times. San Antonio finished with 25 points off those turnovers.

Injuries: Alex Caruso missed his second regular-season game due to the league’s COVID-19 rules. Vogel said Caruso participated in film study via zoom conference call on Wednesday. The Lakers are hopeful Caruso can re-join the team at some point during the four-game road trip.

They said it: “We don’t have any rookies to sing him happy birthday so he didn’t get that yet. I gave him the option to choose a teammate or teammates to sing happy birthday for him, and he chose to wait until after the game. So, that may or may not happen, we’ll see.” – Vogel on what the team will do for James on his birthday.