LeBron James, Lakers scrape by Pistons

LOS ANGELES — Moments after Anthony Davis smashed another dunk on the heads of the Detroit Pistons, LeBron James turned his attention to the sellout crowd.

He raised his arms and waved his fingers, encouraging them to raise their voices. It seemed to promise a blowout, as the lead over swelled to 16 points in the third quarter rally, rising as high as 19.

But this season, those moments have been fleeting — and with 2.1 seconds left in the fourth quarter, the Lakers again found themselves in a three-point tussle with one of the worst teams in the league.

There might have been incremental progress Sunday afternoon, as the Lakers again showed flashes of the team they think they can be. But between fastbreak highlights and scrappy defense, there were moments of inattention and settling — and again, too many offensive rebounds given up (12).

So yes, the Lakers beat the Detroit Pistons 110-106 and improved to 11-11. But on Chick Hearn night, they couldn’t honor the franchise’s best known play-by-play man by putting it in the refrigerator.

It wasn’t over until Talen Horton-Tucker made a free throw with nearly no time remaining, ensuring the Lakers would survive even if the Pistons made their last-second desperation hurl down the floor.

After losing a three-overtime battle against Sacramento on Friday night, there’s nothing these Lakers need more than an efficient, comfortable win. But the team still has only won two games by double-digits, and their struggles against the 4-16 Pistons illustrates that even against the easiest competition, nothing is easy for the Lakers.

But James said the early bumps have invigorated him.

“It ranks right at the top of any other challenge I’ve had in my career, which actually brings out the best in me, and I love that,” James said. “I love trying to figure out how we can be better — get through the mud, get through adversity and just make it sweeter on the back end. I feel like we haven’t even scratched the surface on what our team can be.”

The team’s stars did their best to put it away in arguably their best night as a trio. James scored 33 points with 9 assists; Russell Westbrook was 10 for 16 with 25 points and 9 assists; Davis had 24 points, including hitting both of his 3-point attempts after plenty of needling about his jump shot over the last few days.

“It’s a long season, and I’m going to continue to shoot the ball from 3, whether they go in or not,” Davis said. “I think that opens up the floor for my teammates with Bron, Russ, (and Horton-Tucker) getting downhill. And it opens it up for me to get to the paint, with guys running out to get to the 3.”

In the third quarter, the Lakers finally took charge. The Big Three peeled off a 16-0 rally, the longest unanswered scoring run of the season. The key factor was speed, with the Lakers taking off on every Detroit miss and racking up five dunks or layups during the exhilarating four-minute stretch. James noted that where the third quarter was once the most dreaded period of games for the Lakers, they’ve outscored their opponents in the third in six of their last nine games.

It also served as a temporary vindication of the embattled starting lineup featuring Avery Bradley and DeAndre Jordan, which has been targeted by fans as a source of strain. Jordan was 4 for 4 from the field in the game with 9 points and 6 rebounds, bouncing Dwight Howard from the playing rotation for at least one night.

Instead of going with Howard’s brawn, the Lakers zagged by putting James and Carmelo Anthony as the two bigs on the floor with guards surrounding them. The Lakers had success with those lineups, too, especially opening up driving lanes for Westbrook.

“I feel like this is part of our evolution as a team and learning what our identity is going to look like,” coach Frank Vogel said. “There is a lot more space for Russ. Bron has a lot more space to be a roller to the basket, which is effective, and we just had more switchability on the defensive side of the ball.”

But while the Big Three were churning out points, the supporting cast faltered on offense. Detroit’s bench outscored the Lakers reserves 42-18. While Horton-Tucker (12 points) started finding some rhythm by getting to the basket after a few rough games, it seemed clear that Anthony’s 37-year-old legs were lacking lift after playing 43 minutes against the Kings and he was 0 for 7 from the field.

Sure enough, the Lakers lead ground down: to 11, to 6, to 4. The Pistons, led by 32 points from Jerami Grant, closed it to three points when Grant dunked with 2.1 seconds left.

The problem, Vogel said, continues to be on the defensive end. The Pistons wound up with 13 threes, including four by Grant and three from No. 1 overall pick Cade Cunningham. While the Lakers got individual highlights — like Davis blocking Cunningham a handful of times — the team still isn’t cohesive enough when it comes to the details.

“I challenge these guys to really compete to be a great defensive team,” he said. “That’s why our lives are hard right now.”

No kidding.