Anthony Davis shrugged off an injury scare to match season bests of 40 points and 16 rebounds as the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the visiting Memphis Grizzlies 116-110 on Sunday night.
Austin Reaves had 19 points and eight assists while LeBron James, back after missing two games due to a foot injury, chalked up 18 points, eight boards and eight assists for Los Angeles.
Jaren Jackson Jr. scored 25 points before fouling out for the Grizzlies, whose four-game winning streak came to an end. Ja Morant had 20 points, seven rebounds and six assists, offset by a 6-for-21 clip from the floor and seven turnovers.
Davis retreated to the locker room with 5:30 remaining in the third quarter after hurting his left shoulder in a collision with Memphis center Zach Edey during a rebounding contest.
However, Davis returned with 9:19 left in the fourth quarter and picked up right where he left off, scoring seven straight Lakers points soon after.
James got off to a fast start, dishing out two assists to Davis in the opening minute of the contest before following a thunderous slam with a chase-down rejection of Desmond Bane. He then scored on a tip-in to give Los Angeles a 9-2 edge.
Davis had 12 points and seven boards in the first quarter, which ended with the Lakers up 30-20. The Grizzlies went 5-for-20 from the field in what was their lowest-scoring first quarter of the season.
The Lakers’ cushion grew to 44-29 thanks to a 10-0, second-quarter burst, which included a triple from Reaves.
Davis posted a double-double before the teams entered the break, racking up 22 points and 10 rebounds over the first 24 minutes of action to send Los Angeles into intermission up 64-46.
After seeing their deficit grow to 23, 81-58, with 6:22 to go in the third quarter, the Grizzlies took advantage of Davis’ absence and closed the frame on a 19-5 run.
Morant used a reverse layup to get Memphis within seven at 105-98 with 5:24 left in the game, but the hosts found a way to hold on.