NBA Notes: Spurs, De’Aaron Fox, Lakers, LeBron James, Suns

Spurs

The Spurs have stacked two straight wins since Victor Wembanyama went down with a calf strain, grinding out a 10-point victory over Memphis on Tuesday.

They were also without reigning Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle, who sat with a hip flexor strain.

Even so, San Antonio looked steady, with De’Aaron Fox setting the tone with a team-high 26. They got something from just about everyone.

Harrison Barnes poured in 23. Kelly Olynyk gave them a plus-15 in 19 minutes. Jeremy Sochan and Keldon Johnson combined for 26 points and 13 rebounds off the bench. And Luke Kornet didn’t score, but he started again for Wemby and gave them real rim protection.

“We want to play our brand of basketball and try to maintain our same identity no matter who is in,” head coach Mitch Johnson said, via Jeff McDonald of the San Antonio Express-News. “It was really good to see so many people help win.”

Fox echoed it.

“No one thought we’d be missing this many guys or two of our top three scorers,” he said. “You’ve got to continue to get wins. That’s what good teams do.”

Lakers

LeBron James only took seven shots in his return Tuesday against Utah. Didn’t matter. He handed out 12 assists, played 30 minutes, looked steady, and extended his ridiculous streak of double-digit scoring games to 1,293.

Most importantly, he got through it without setbacks after missing the first month with sciatica.

“The pace tested me, but I was happy with the way I was able to go with the guys,” James said, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “Caught my second wind, caught my third wind. Rhythm is still coming back. First game in almost seven months.”

McMenamin also spoke with 10 league and team sources about what L.A. is tracking with James back — including how his return impacts role players and whether the scoring duo of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves can keep cooking.

Not everyone sees Deandre Ayton the same way.

“Ayton should benefit the most out of LeBron back,” an East executive said. “LeBron makes people look good. He’ll feed Ayton lobs and dump-offs at the rim.”

A West exec disagreed. “I imagine Deandre’s going to be a problem. He’s just not smart enough of a player. And the inconsistent effort… LeBron usually has issues with that, to say the least.”

Suns

Isaiah Livers isn’t sweating his two-way clock. The Suns forward, finally healthy after long-standing hip issues, has appeared in 11 games and says he’s not counting the days, writes Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic.

“I’m taking it one day at a time,” Livers said. “We all know my story. I’m just blessed and grateful to put a uniform back on and help an organization win games. We’ll worry about the rest later.”