LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James probably thought he was done playing this particular role.

After so many seasons in which James valiantly carried otherwise ordinary teams to extraordinary achievements, the greatest scorer in NBA history was not even the Los Angeles Lakers' focal point this year. Down the stretch of his first full season alongside Luka Doncic, the 41-year-old James became a supporting player of sorts while Doncic drove the Lakers’ offense and rising star Austin Reaves thrived.

This dynamic worked superbly while the Lakers made a 16-2 surge through March, winning the Pacific Division and prompting many to wonder if they could even conjure a challenge to Oklahoma City or San Antonio this spring.

And then Doncic (hamstring) and Reaves (oblique) both went down in the Lakers' first game of April with significant injuries likely to sideline them for several weeks.

Just like that, James is alone in the spotlight once again this month, the Lakers' faint postseason hopes resting on a 23-year NBA veteran who has already done it all.

When Los Angeles hosts the Houston Rockets in its playoff opener Saturday night, James will attempt yet another improbable feat in a career full of them: Keeping the Lakers alive long enough for Doncic and Reaves to return.

“I’ve had to tap back into a role that I’ve been accustomed to in the past, but obviously wasn’t what it was this year,” James said. “Circumstances have put me back in here, and I’m just trying to feed off my teammates (while my) teammates feed off of me. Trying to make things happen for us to continue to stay afloat.”

Indeed, this would be a daunting challenge for almost any player except James. After he racked up 26 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds while the Lakers beat Golden State last week, he was asked what his team needs from him without its two top scorers.

“Everything,” James said. “So nothing changes for me. Just back to the old ways."

James has spent the majority of his basketball life lifting up the players around him. Even after he left Cleveland the first time to relieve that burden by forming the Miami Heat's super-team, he went home again after four years and spent four more seasons carrying the Cavaliers to four straight NBA Finals against Golden State — most famously stretching the 2015 series to six games without Kyrie Irving or Kevin Love, followed by leading Cleveland's epic rally from a 3-1 series deficit to win the 2016 title.

Here in the present, the Lakers realize their promising season has probably been sabotaged by unlucky injuries. Doncic, who led the NBA in scoring, has traveled to Spain in hopes of finding some medical way to get back on the court sooner, while Reaves is almost certainly out for at least the first round.

But with James in their lineup, Lakers coach JJ Redick will always feel they've got a chance.

“We’re going to need him to facilitate, and we’re going to need him to score,” Redick said. “We’re going to need him to defend and rebound. I think he recognizes the task at hand, and he’s very locked in. He’s played great.”

All three of the Lakers' stars have had injury problems this season, and they only got extensive playing time together recently. James missed training camp and the first 14 games of the regular season last fall after developing sciatica, yet he has played in 60 of the ensuing 68 games for Los Angeles, including five back-to-back sets.

“He had not a good season, not a great — he had a remarkable season, all things considered,” Redick said. “You take away the fact that he’s in his 23rd year, and he’s 41 years old, he had a remarkable season. The fact that those things are real, and they’re very real in terms of the day-to-day management, it’s unbelievable what he did this year.”

James' numbers reflect only slight concessions to his age and his lessened workload behind Doncic and Reaves: His 20.9 points per game were his fewest since his rookie year in 2003-04, while his 33.2 minutes per game were his lowest ever.

Yet when he's in the spotlight, James still delivers with remarkable frequency. He finished the regular season by averaging 24.0 points, 9.7 assists, 6.0 rebounds and 3.0 steals in three Lakers victories to secure homecourt advantage in the first round.

James was named the Western Conference’s player of the week Monday for the 70th time — more than any other two players in NBA history combined.

“Just trying to squeeze as much of the juice as I can, until it’s as dry as it can be for me,” James said. “I’ve been given an opportunity to play the game that I love, and tried to do it at a high level, and I’ve tried to commit to it, and the game has given back to me.”

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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/NBA

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shohei Ohtani hit a leadoff homer and Teoscar Hernández followed with a three-run shot in the first inning of the Los Angeles Dodgers ’ seventh victory in eight games, 6-3 over the Texas Rangers on Saturday night.

Emmet Sheehan (2-0) pitched six innings of four-hit ball with six strikeouts for the defending World Series champion Dodgers, whose 11-3 start is the best in the majors. Will Smith reached base four times and scored two runs.

Brandon Nimmo hit a leadoff homer, another two-run shot and a double for the Rangers, who have lost six of nine with their back-to-back defeats at Dodger Stadium. The rest of Texas' lineup managed just one hit, a sixth-inning single by Josh Jung.

Sheehan excelled against almost every Texas hitter except Nimmo, who hammered his second pitch 405 feet to dead center for the 15th leadoff homer of the longtime Mets slugger's career.

Ohtani answered moments later with a blast to right for his first homer at Chavez Ravine this season while also extending his on-base streak to 45 games. The four-time MVP has four home runs in eight games after starting the season in a six-game homer drought.

Five batters later, Hernández brought home Smith and Freddie Freeman with a big shot to left, his third of the season.

Jack Leiter (1-1) yielded five runs on five hits and four walks while failing to get out of the fourth inning for Texas.

Nimmo's two-run shot in the sixth trimmed LA's lead to 5-3 and secured his first multi-homer game for his new team.

Hernández doubled and scored on Andy Pages' single in the eighth.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts didn't give the ninth inning to new closer Edwin Diaz, who blew a three-run lead in Friday's victory. Blake Treinen allowed two baserunners and got two outs before Alex Vesia struck out Danny Jansen to secure his first save.

Up next

RHP Jacob deGrom (0-0, 3.72 ERA) starts the series finale for Texas on Sunday against RHP Roki Sasaki (0-1, 7.00).

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB