LeBron James drops 56 points, leads Lakers to win over Warriors

Fair or not, LeBron James has shouldered plenty of criticism and pressure as of late for the Lakers' lackluster performance this season. On Saturday night, he responded to the hate with maybe his best performance with Los Angeles yet -- and picked up a statement win in the process.

James erupted to score 56 points and log 10 rebounds to carry the Lakers to a huge 124-116 win over the Warriors in Los Angeles. His 56 points were the most he's scored in a game since joining the Lakers in 2018.

The performance made James the fourth player in NBA history to score at least 50 in a game at 37 years or older. He joins Michael Jordan (51 points, 2001), Jamal Crawford (51 points, 2009) and Kobe Bryant (60 points, 2016) on the list.

The Lakers took an early lead in the game, leading by seven after the first quarter, but let the Warriors back in and then some in the second as Golden State went into halftime leading 67-62. James did his part, though, scoring 26 by the break.

The Warriors came out and kept the pressure on the Lakers in the third, scoring the first nine points to go up by 12. That's when James decided to take over. He went on a blustering run in which he scored 14 of the Lakers' 17 points over a four and a half minute period, getting Los Angeles back within single digits as he went to the bench.

Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony poured in a quick six minutes in the final minute of the third quarter to get the Lakers within five. James checked in with them trailing by three, and once again decided to grab the reigns; after a few misses and a Warriors three, James cashed in three straight shots from beyond the arc to put the Lakers up 100-97 with under eight minutes to play.

The two teams kept a close pace down the stretch, and with 1:06 to play, Stephen Curry hit a layup to make it 119-116 in favor of the Lakers. After a timeout, Westbrook missed a jumper, but Austin Reaves tracked down a key rebound. He reset up top to James, who drove and found Anthony in the corner for an emphatic three-pointer.

Curry missed a three the next time down, and the Warriors had to foul. James went to the line and hit both, giving him 56 points on the night and putting the game out of reach.

James' 56 point performance is tied with the Hawks' Trae Young for the highest-scoring game by any player this season. Young dropped 56 in a loss to the Trail Blazers back on January 3.

Westbrook finished with 20 points, four rebounds and four assists. Anthony logged 14 points off the bench.

Curry led Golden State with 30 points. Jordan Poole added 23 points and five assists off the bench, Otto Porter Jr. had 10 points and 10 rebounds and Andrew Wiggins logged 14 points, five rebounds and four assists.