MINNEAPOLIS —
The stage was set for another moment — the NBA’s all-time leading scorer on his 39th birthday squaring off with a surging Minnesota team led by one of the young stars in the league, Anthony Edwards.
And if that wasn’t enough drama, an illness kept LeBron James from attending morning shoot-around and threatened his status for Saturday night’s game.
But when it came time for the Lakers to play, the game representing one of the final challenges before the team flips the calendar and gets some time at home, James was on the court, ready to go.