LeBron James scores season-high 40 points to lift Lakers past Zion Williamson's Pelicans

LOS ANGELES — LeBron James. Anthony Davis. Zion Williamson. Brandon Ingram. Lonzo Ball.

Not only big names, but some big names who used to play for the other team and were traded in a massive offseason deal that netted the Los Angeles Lakers Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans Ingram, Ball, Josh Hart and a draft pick who turned into Jaxson Hayes.

Add another big name for this game: “Nature Boy” Ric Flair, who celebrated his 71st birthday by professing his admiration for the Lakers and James pregame, calling Los Angeles the greatest franchise and James the greatest player on the planet.

And it was Williamson’s first career game against the Lakers. He didn’t disappoint either, finishing with 29 points, six rebounds, three assists and flurry of backboard-shaking dunks.

Impressive as it was, along with Ingram’s 34 points, it wasn’t enough to beat James and the Lakers. James had 16 of his game-high 40 points – a season high for him – in the third quarter, Davis had 21 points, 14 rebounds and six blocks and the Lakers defeated the Pelicans 118-109 on Tuesday.

Zion puts on show in first game against the Lakers

Williamson missed the two previous Pelicans-Lakers games as he recovered from arthroscopic surgery on his right knee. He’s been on a tear since his NBA debut on Jan. 22. He has scored at least 20 points in 11 of his 13 games, including nine consecutive.

He started slowly with just four points in the first quarter but he had 13 in the second. Williamson had four big dunks in the first half and showed off his strength and explosive quickness. He had no trouble forcing the action against Davis and Dwight Howard and got to the foul line, taking a career-high 19 free throws.