OKLAHOMA CITY _ LeBron James found Anthony Davis open in the corner, and as Davis released a three-point attempt, Thunder center Steven Adams hurled himself at Davis and knocked him nearly into Oklahoma City's bench.
From the ground, Davis saw the ball go through the hoop with 2:36 remaining Friday night. He then made the ensuing free throw.
"When AD hits a four-point play, especially in that time of the game, it's kind of a backbreaker for a team," Los Angeles Lakers guard Danny Green said.
That gave the Lakers a cushion they needed to hold off the Thunder again. The Lakers beat Oklahoma City 130-127, improving to 13-2 for their best record after 15 games since the 2010-11 season, when they also started 13-2.
It was the Lakers' highest-scoring game of the season and marked the first time they allowed an opponent to score more than 115 points. The Lakers clicked on offense, making 51.1% of their field-goal attempts overall and 54.8% of their three-point tries. Their defense struggled as the Thunder also shot better than 50% from the field, though Oklahoma City was less successful from three-point range, shooting 35.5%.
James had 23 points, 14 assists and six rebounds, while Davis led all scorers with 33 points and contributed 11 rebounds and seven assists. Davis made four of seven three-point attempts, continuing a recent trend of long-distance success.
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Green, Kyle Kuzma and Dwight Howard all scored in double figures for the Lakers.
The Thunder were led by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who scored 24 points.
Lakers guard Rajon Rondo was ejected from the game in the fourth quarter after he was charged with committing a flagrant-two foul against Dennis Schroder. The foul followed an earlier technical foul after a verbal exchange with Schroder, for which both players were assessed technicals.
Both teams traded blows early in the game, with no lead safe or very big. The Lakers racked up assists early, though, especially from James and Davis. One spectacular assist ended the second quarter.
With 2.4 seconds left in the half, Rondo inbounded the ball from beneath the Thunder basket, high toward the three-point line on the other side of the court. James harkened back to his days as a high school wide receiver and leaped into the air to catch it with his right hand, then flipped it over to Caldwell-Pope, who sank a three.
"It started with Rondo throwing a great pass and him being a great quarterback," James said. "And then it (continued) with me being a great receiver and then me playing my QB skills to get it to KCP and KCP being able to knock it down."
After the break, the Lakers tried to bury the Thunder by scoring 28 points in the first five minutes of the third quarter. They made their first five three-point attempts in the quarter, part of a season-high 17 made three-pointers on the night.
Still, the Lakers only went into the fourth with a three-point lead and needed free throws from Davis in the game's final seconds to seal the win.
"I worked a lot on putting myself at the line for situations like that," Davis said. "It's just going out there and knowing your routine. Just being up there being poised and have the confidence to make your shot."
