Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James (23) drives against San Antonio Spurs’ Stephon Castle (5) during the first half of an Emirates NBA Cup basketball game, Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)

SAN ANTONIO — Anthony Davis had 40 points and 12 rebounds, LeBron James had 15 points, 16 rebounds and 12 assists and the Los Angeles Lakers opened defense of their Emirates NBA Cup title with a 120-115 victory over the San Antonio Spurs on Friday night.

James had his career-high fourth straight triple-double.

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Victor Wembanyama had 28 points, 14 rebounds, five assists and two blocks for San Antonio. On Wednesday night, he had a career-high 50 points in a 139-130 home victory over Washington.

READ: NBA Cup: Superstars set to collide when Lakers battle Spurs

.@LakersReporter caught up with Anthony Davis following his 40-point performance in Game 1 of the NBA Cup. pic.twitter.com/i1eUThcxnA

— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) November 16, 2024

Davis shot 14 for 26, making 2 of 4 3-pointers, in his highest-scoring game of the season. Austin Reaves added 19 points, Dalton Knecht had 14 and D’Angelo Russell 13.

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San Antonio raced to an 11-0 lead, including an alley-oop dunk by Wembanyama from fellow 20-year-old Stephon Castle. Davis scored 16 points in the opening quarter as Los Angeles closed the period on a 21-8 run to take a 31-30 lead.

Castle had 22 points, and Devin Vassell added 15 for San Antonio.

Takeaways

Lakers: Davis had 30 points for the seventh time in 11 games this season. He is averaging a career-high 31.1 points.

Spurs: Chris Paul had 11 points and 11 assists, giving him 12,008 career assists. Paul joins John Stockton (15,806) and Jason Kidd (12,091) as the only players with 12,000 assists.

READ: NBA: LeBron James’ triple-double leads Lakers past Grizzlies

LeBron James (15 PTS, 16 REB, 12 AST) speaks about his fourth consecutive triple-double. pic.twitter.com/9VCLk98bGH

— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) November 16, 2024

Key moment

With the Lakers leading 116-115, Paul was called for an offensive foul after attempting to screen Davis following a handoff to Wembanyama for a 3-pointer. The turnover led to a layup by James that gave the Lakers a 118-115 lead with 25 seconds remaining.

Key stat

The Lakers had a 15-6 advantage on second-chance points, including an 8-0 advantage in the first quarter.

Up next

The Lakers are at New Orleans on Saturday night to close out a back-to-back. The Spurs are at Dallas on Saturday night before returning for a three-game homestand.