The Sports Report: Lakers win to open the second half of the season.

Howdy, I'm Houston Mitchell, your host. Let's get to the news right away

LeBron James gave the Lakers a message from Salt Lake City, according to Dan Woike.

James stated on Sunday that he was set to play 23 of the most significant regular season games of his career.

The Lakers' depth and defence were more than enough as they cruised to a 124-111 victory after the break despite James' 

More significantly, the Lakers are up by 20 points for the second straight game

The Lakers' drive occurs when the team's sense of urgency is at an all-time high