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The dance music blared as the crowd took turns roaring its way through a fourth-quarter timeout, Lakers coach JJ Redick frustrated after another clean look for the San Antonio Spurs allowed them to pull within a point.
To that point, Friday’s game had delivered.
With the NBA Cup raising the stakes, Anthony Davis and Victor Wembanyama dueled. The teams traded, and blew, double-digit leads. And with the music of LMFAO turned up to 11 midway through the fourth, the NBA had exactly what it wanted — a November game that felt like it mattered.
The crowd buzzed with each possession, a Wembanyama dunk off a lob getting a roar on one end. A clutch Davis triple on the other leading to a collective groan.
It went that way, deep into the final minute, with the Lakers making the biggest plays in the final seconds of a 120-115 win.
Read more: LeBron James’ mind is on ‘dear friend’ Gregg Popovich’s health, not Lakers vs. Spurs
“You get to play a game like this on the road, especially when we’ve been struggling on the road — to come in this locker room at the end of the game and get the win, I mean, it was phenomenal,” Davis said. “Taking steps in the right direction.”
Davis, who scored a season-high 40 points, worked from the block with Wembanyama on his hip and the shot clock running down, only to find a cutting LeBron James for a layup that helped ice the win.
“It was big-time for our team knowing that we can execute down the stretch,” James said. “And it doesn’t always have to be in early transition or it doesn’t always have to be just the ball in my hands and we isolate or whatever the case may be.”
Six Lakers scored in double figures. James emphatically clapped his hands and Davis held the ball in the air at the final horn.
“That’s what we want to do,” Davis said. “We want to be just as good of a road team as we are a home team. And we can’t do that if we don’t come out and compete. We’ve been just a different team when we’ve been out on the road. The way we compete, share the ball, play together at home, is totally different than when we get on the other side on the road. So we did that tonight.”
On a night where he moved into a tie for the fifth-most regular-season games played, James figured out a way to do the incredible. In his 22nd season, James did something for the first time.
Following triple-doubles against Philadelphia, Toronto and Memphis, James did it for the fourth time in a row, the longest stretch of his career. He finished with 16 rebounds, 15 points and 12 assists. The Lakers won all four of those games.
“Waiting 22 years to do something is wild,” James said.
The Lakers (8-4) didn’t have starting forward Rui Hachimura, who missed the game because of a sprained ankle. They started rookie Dalton Knecht instead and he scored 14 points.
Their bench, one of their clearest weaknesses, had its best game. Max Christie, back in the rotation with Hachimura out, scored a season-high 11 points. Gabe Vincent, who has been in a shooting slump to start the season, had six points and three steals. Both helped change the game in the first half as the Lakers erased a 12-point deficit.
“He has a lot of belief in a lot of us and I think he definitely has a lot of belief in me and I can appreciate that coming from a head coach,” Christie said of Redick. “I know you know how I can play and I think tonight was a very good example of that, when I’m just out there playing free, playing the way I know I can play instead of just trying to overcomplicate things.”
The Lakers’ next NBA Cup game is Tuesday at home against Utah.
Read more: What’s motivating Lakers in their NBA Cup title chase? ‘I mean, $500,000 is $500,000’
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
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