LeBron takes over late against Kings, but emphasizes Lakers are ‘a team’

LOS ANGELES — LeBron James caught fire in the fourth quarter on Saturday, scoring 16 of his game-high 32 points in a three-minute span to help the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Sacramento Kings 131-127 and start the season at 3 -0.

James was responsible for 18 points in the Lakers’ 21-0 run to start the quarter, scoring 11 straight points and then assisting on a Jason Hayes dunk, then scored five more.

While it was a classic performance for the 22-year-old veteran, James said the fourth-quarter outburst is not something he feels will be necessary for entire games for Los Angeles to win this season.

“Listen, I could do that at 22 years old, but at almost 40, I don’t need to do it for four quarters,” James said after adding 14 rebounds and 10 assists, marking the 113th triple-double of his career. “I have the luxury of having an MVP-caliber player by my side (in Anthony Davis). RA (Austin Reaves) can do it in groups, D-Lo (D’Angelo Russell) can get hot, Rui (Hachimura) has been consistent and can get going and score in groups as well.

“So this team is not built for me to have 16-point quarters in all four quarters. That’s not how it’s built and it shouldn’t be like that. We’re a team and we all play together.”

In fact, as hot as James was to start the quarter, it was Davis who finished it off with a three-pointer and a free throw in the final minute to give Los Angeles the lead.

“We encourage him, the coaches encourage him, we as his teammates encourage him to shoot that 3, and probably the most important shot of the night is him making that 3, so he made it easy for me,” he said James on Davis, who scored his third consecutive 30-point game, tying a franchise record for most consecutive 30-point games to start the season with Elgin Baylor, Jerry West and Kobe Bryant.

James had been relatively quiet during the Lakers’ first two wins against Minnesota and Phoenix, totaling 37 points.

“Just when you think he’s slowing down, man, he continues to show the world why he’s the best,” Davis said of James. “To get to that stretch, he actually looked toward the bench and was trying to get out of the game. We told him, ‘You’re not going to get out.’ He comes out and makes another three. He never ceases to surprise us because we know what he’s capable of and what he is capable of doing.”

While every other Lakers starter had 16 points or more, backing up James’ claim that he doesn’t need to aggressively look to score from kickoff to the final buzzer, when he finds a rhythm like that, there’s nothing left for L.A. . just accept it.

“What can you say?” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “We’ve all been so fortunate to see his greatness for so long, and the fact that he can continue to do so is just crazy.”