LeBron James turned 39 years old on Saturday.
However, the last time he played against the New Orleans Pelicans, he looked much younger.
James and the Los Angeles Lakers will visit the Pelicans on Sunday night, the rematch of an NBA in-season tournament semifinal on Dec. 7. During that contest in Las Vegas, James scored 30 points and dished out eight assists in less than three quarters as Los Angeles routed New Orleans 133-89.
But the Lakers came up short on James’ birthday, falling to the Minnesota Timberwolves 108-106 in Minneapolis. It was Los Angeles’ seventh loss in 10 games since beating the Indiana Pacers in the final of the in-season tournament.
The biggest moment Saturday night came when James made what appeared to be a tying 3-pointer with 2.3 seconds left, but the shot was ruled a 2-pointer and the call was upheld on replay.
After the replay, Minnesota’s Anthony Edwards made one of two free throws and James couldn’t get a shot off in the final 1.4 seconds.
James, who scored 26 points, said he didn’t get out of bed until 4:30 p.m. Saturday because of a non-COVID illness that led to him being listed as questionable. He said he would wait to see how he feels Sunday before speculating on his availability.
Anthony Davis finished with 33 points, 17 rebounds and eight assists to lead Los Angeles.
New Orleans will try to build on a 112-105 victory over the visiting Utah Jazz on Thursday, which came after the Pelicans blew fourth-quarter leads in narrow losses to the Houston Rockets and Memphis Grizzlies to start a five-game homestand.
The Pelicans received a boost with the return of reserve center Larry Nance Jr. after a 13-game absence due to a broken rib. Nance finished with nine points, seven rebounds, five steals and a block in 25 minutes.
Nance gave credit to Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum, all of whom scored more than 20 points, as well as Trey Murphy III, who missed his first six shots but made two critical 3-pointers in the final two minutes to help hold off the Jazz.
