James' feats in second of back-to-back 'remarkable'

The 41-year-old's respect for the game shouldn't be taken for granted, Redick says.

- THỤC NHI NGUYEN

LeBRON JAMES played his first back-to-back games of the season on Monday and Tuesday. "His competitive stamina is off the charts," coach JJ Redick says.

Weary and downtrodden from a losing streak that stretched to three games after a loss to the Sacramento Kings on Monday, the Lakers entered Tuesday's game against the Atlanta Hawks with Luka Doncic and LeBron James both listed as "questionable." It looked like an inevitable loss would be coming.

That is, until James collected a full-court baseball pass from Marcus Smart in the first quarter and slammed it down with one hand. The superstar still had his bounce Tuesday.

Doncic and James led the way as the Lakers (24-14) avoided their season-long losing streak. Doncic, who was dealing with groin soreness from Monday’s loss, had 27 points and 12 assists while James, playing on back-to-back nights for the first time this season, had 31 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds.

“It’s remarkable,” coach JJ Redick said of James. “His competitive stamina is off the charts.”

Here are three takeaways from the game:

James shows his greatness

Redick said he didn’t expect James to play Tuesday. He had not played in two games in as many days all season, and, at 41 years old, James said his status for all back-to-backs going forward should be “to be determined."

Then James dominated with his third 30-point game of the month and his 61st 30-point double-double as a Laker, passing Kobe Bryant for seventh most in franchise history.

“I do not take for granted the LeBron stuff,” Redick said. “It’s unfortunate actually — not to go on a little tangent here — but it’s actually unfortunate how much this guy puts into it and how much he cares and the way certain people talk about him. It’s crazy. Come be around him every day and see how much this guy cares. It’s off the charts.”