LeBron James, who had missed the past five games for the struggling Los Angeles Lakers, was a game-time decision vs. the New York Knicks on Saturday.

You wouldn't know it from watching the game.

After a predictably rusty few first minutes, James got rolling at Crypto.com Arena. He ended up with 29 points on 13-of-24 shooting. He added 13 rebounds and 10 assists for his 14th triple-double of the 2021-22 NBA season and 103rd of his career. He extended his career-longest streak of 25+ point scoring outings to 19.

Most notably, he played 39 minutes.

“He’s incredible,” lauded Lakers head coach Frank Vogel. “I guess the time off served him well. We didn’t want to play him 39 minutes. Obviously, the overtime impacted that but just played a great basketball game. His defense, his competitive spirit, his IQ is everything to us. The way he scores the basketball and always sets up teammates, it’s rare. He was special tonight. Just a great performance.”

James acknowledged that he didn't feel great in warmups, but decided to give it a go anyway for the nationally-televised contest (likely to be one of the highest-rated regular-season games of the season, considering it's New York-Los Angeles. Not that he cares, right?).

“I didn’t feel that great in my pregame warmup to be honest. I didn’t feel as bad as the last warmup I had in Charlotte. That was the last time I tried to do anything on the court. I didn’t feel worse than that day, so I just gave it a shot, see what happens and you saw what happened.” (LeBron had not addressed the media since his injury.)

He quickly found a groove.

“After the first quarter the knee loosened up a lot more, my mind loosened up a lot more and I was able just to play basketball,” he added. “Just excited to be back in a uniform, back on the floor with my guys. Missed them, missed the game. Happy I was able to make a few plays to help us win the ball game.”

Anthony Davis was not surprised by his teammate's dominance in his first game since Jan. 25.

“Hell of a return. He did what he did. I think he had a triple-double, right? He’s doing LeBron-type things. Expected nothing less from him. Efficient from the field; he did what he was supposed to do. He helped us for sure. Missed him. He’s a big part of our team with his voice, leadership, play-making ability. He came back and showed it.”

The Lakers are now 20-16 when LeBron plays this season, and 6-12 when he doesn't.