James makes winning return for 23rd season

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — LeBron James made a winning start to his National Basketball Association (NBA)-record 23rd season on Tuesday, returning after a near one-month injury absence in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 140-126 victory over the Utah Jazz.

James, 40, missed the Lakers’ first 14 games of the season with sciatica but was quickly back into his rhythm before finishing with 11 points, 12 assists and three rebounds.

There was still time for James to bring up another milestone, his two three-pointers taking him past Reggie Miller for sixth place on the NBA’s all-time regular season three-pointers list.

Luka Doncic, who led the Lakers scoring with 37 points, welcomed James’ return to the line-up.

“It’s been a long time since he played basketball, so I think for the first game back, he looked amazing,” Doncic said. “He’s gonna keep getting his rhythm, and he’s gonna help us a lot.”

Doncic was backed with 26 points from Austin Reaves with Deandre Ayton adding 20.

Utah led by 11 points during the second quarter but were blown away in the third as the Lakers poured in 37 points to open up a sizeable double-digit lead heading into the final frame.

Elsewhere Tuesday, the Detroit Pistons stretched their longest win streak since 2008 to 11 games with a 120-112 victory in Atlanta, snapping the Hawks’ five-game win streak.