Feb. 16—Blowouts have been few and far between this season for the Lakers, and there’s been almost one universal rule: LeBron James has had to work for them.

The Lakers have only won by double digits in eight games James has played in, and he’s always played at least 31 minutes and averaged 27 points in those games — until Wednesday night against New Orleans.

After just 29 minutes and 21 points (in part limited by a minutes restriction), James looked at ease while dissecting a game the Lakers had won by 18 points. His left foot, a critical concern over a three-day absence, was feeling OK — and he hadn’t had to put too much extra strain on it to gut out a victory by some narrow margin.

“Every game is going to be tough for us, especially going down the stretch,” he said, “knowing the type of push that we need to make.”

But his words belied the effort needed: While the Pelicans were without All-Star Zion Williamson, just a weekand- a-half before, they had knocked out the Lakers in the closing minutes of a tight game. The most recent rematch just seemed ... easier.

That’s the hope the Lakers have as they enter All-Star break on a win, still in 13th place in the Western Conference and two games out of a play-in spot, but with optimism on the rise. While they know the challenge of team-building on the fly with D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt in the starting lineup, the skillset had a natural fit that the Lakers haven’t had for a few seasons. Coach Darvin Ham struck a relieved note, calling it a “quality of life” win that relaxed his psyche: “(The All-Star break) would’ve been a long time to sit on a loss, bro. I’m happy.”

Team cameras captured Russell exclaiming, “Like I never left!” to the home crowd in his first game back in his old arena as a Laker since 2017. But in reality, even as a Laker, Russell never had it so good: He described the ease of playing with a willing passer who looks for him on cuts or open 3-point shots in James or a post player who draws gravity like Davis (“you find yourself walking to the rim,” he said).

While he played with two talented players in Minnesota in Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns, Russell gave the impression that the match with James and Davis still somehow stands apart.

“Just easy, I think it’s just easy,” he said. “Those guys, they try to play the right way the majority of the time. So, when your two best players are willing passers and selfless out there and try to screen away and back screen, they play basketball out there.”

It hasn’t been all fun and games since the trade deadline: A brutal blowout loss in Portland reinforced that James is a necessary ingredient. The 38-year-old gave an upbeat update on his foot, which he said had calmed down over the eight days he took off since becoming the NBA’s alltime leading scorer. The break could not come at a better moment.

“It’s major. It’s great. And it falls at the perfect time,” he said. “I didn’t want to have to take off the last three games but my foot and my ankle didn’t allow me to go out and compete like I know I can compete. But it was good to get a game under my belt with these guys tonight to see, to digest what we got going into the break and I’ll do some more homework over the break to see when we come back how we can be even better.”

The most important piece might just be the overall energy of the locker room, which had a tension lift after the trade deadline. Rumors of interest in Kyrie Irving (and James’ entertainment of that notion) had a chilling effect on the group, directly relating to a malaise in which the Lakers lost much-needed games against New Orleans and Oklahoma City.

With a fresh start, the energy has translated into the play on the court, Davis suggested.

“There was just a huge emphasis on getting this win and we came out playing with a lot of urgency and energy,” he said. “And guys had fun. We came out the gates running, flying, no play calls, just getting stops and running and things of that nature. Anytime we can just play free, get stops and run, it’s always fun.”