Lakers take down Pacers with Lebron’s monster game.

NBA, Lakers vs Pacers: Los Angles Lakers beats Indian Pacers from a 37 point game by Lebron James. LeBron James wasn’t quite himself early on in his return from injury, but he got enough help from the rest of the Lakers to beat the Pacers

Without Anthony Davis and with a somewhat rusty-looking LeBron James (at least early), the Los Angeles Lakers were able to muster up just enough scoring runs to head into Thanksgiving with a win.

The Lakers got off to another lethargic start on the second night of their back-to-back, but a 17-6 first-half free-throw advantage allowed them to only trail by six points entering halftime. But despite that disparity starting to even out as the second half moved along (finishing the night 29-24), the Lakers still managed to keep pace in the second half due to some improved shooting from deep and the play of some center-less lineups with James at the “5” that — in a truly miraculous turn of events — helped the team avoid looking like it was trying to run plays inside a Los Angeles studio apartment.

That embracing of small-ball allowed the Lakers to build a six-point lead in the closing minutes of the game on the backs of two huge buckets from James, but a ridiculous, falling-out-of-bounds three from Pacers rookie Chris Duarte tied the game at 112-112 with just seconds remaining, and James’ missed three at the buzzer sent the game to overtime.

But while five extra minutes may seem like unnecessary wear and tear for an aging team at the end of a road trip, we have to be thankful, because, without it, we wouldn’t have gotten to watch James roast Domantas Sabonis for deep three after deep three on switches.

Between those shots and his chase-down block of the Pacers big man in the first half, this was easily the most James has disrespected Sabonis since letting him go last in the NBA All-Star Draft multiple times the last few years.

So even if James certainly won’t have the first 48 minutes of game tape from this one sent to Springfield for his eventual Hall of Fame enshrinement, even a half-speed, mostly deep-shooting version of the King still dramatically raises this team’s ceiling, and — as the last few minutes of the game showed — he can still flip the switch when he needs to.

He finished the night with 39 points, 4 rebounds, and 6 assists in his first game back from his one-game suspension. Not bad for what most would have considered a mediocre night for him before the final five minutes of regulation.

Malik Monk (17 points, 6-11 shooting) certainly helped in the spacing department for the Lakers’ successful small lineups as well, as did some hot shooting from Wayne Ellington (14 points, 5-7 shooting).

While Westbrook’s box score numbers (20 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 turnovers, 5-15) may look fairly pedestrian by his standards, they undersell how much his pace and will help the team stay close while James was shaking off the rust for most of the first three quarters.

The Lakers will now get Thanksgiving off as they wrap up their road trip, returning home to Los Angeles to host the Sacramento Kings on Friday. Happy holidays to all who celebrate, and hopefully you have a bit more to be thankful for.