The 40-year-old James made his season debut in the Lakers’ starting lineup and played 30 minutes after missing training camp and their first 14 games due to sciatica. Vince Carter is the only other player in NBA history to participate in 22 seasons, but James passed him while opening the next chapter of a pro career that began in 2003.

James didn’t take long to find the flow: He put on a playmaking clinic in the second half, and Doncic scored 17 points in the third quarter while the Lakers pulled away from Utah.

Austin Reaves added 26 points as the Lakers improved to 11-4 with their third straight victory.

Keyonte George, who was born 10 days after James’ NBA debut, matched his season high with 33 points for the Jazz two nights after hitting the winning 3-pointer in a double-overtime thriller against Chicago.

Lauri Markkanen had 31 points for Utah, which has lost five of seven.

James didn’t score in his first 11 minutes on the court, but his two 3-pointers in the first half moved him past Reggie Miller for the sixth-most in NBA history.

James made a driving layup in the third quarter to extend his streak of double-digit scoring performances to a record 1,293 games — every game in which he has played since Jan. 6, 2007. The four-time NBA champion didn’t score again, but the Lakers moved comfortably ahead.

George scored 23 points and Markkanen had 22 in Utah’s 71-point first half. The Lakers took charge after halftime, closing the third on a 21-5 run.

Bronny James played the final 3:33 and hit a 3-pointer.

Sharks hold on for 3-2 victory against Mammoth

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Macklin Celebrini scored a power-play goal in overtime to complete his second hat trick of the season and the San Jose Sharks overcame a blown third-period lead to beat the Utah Mammoth 3-2 on Tuesday night.

Celebrini scored twice in the first six minutes of the game and capped it when he beat Vitek Vanacek with 2:09 left in overtime after Utah had been called for too many men on the ice.

That gave the 19-year-old Celebrini 30 points this season, joining Wayne Gretzky and Sidney Crosby as the only teenagers ever to do that in the first 20 games of a season.

JJ Peterka scored twice in the third period to force overtime and earn Utah a point. He got the tying goal with 2:51 to play when his shot on the rush snuck past Yaroslav Askarov for a rare soft goal allowed by the San Jose netminder this month.

The Mammoth have lost their last three games in overtime and have one win in their last seven games.

Askarov made 24 saves for San Jose.

Vanacek made 19 saves.

Celebrini got the Sharks off to a fast start when he finished a nifty passing sequence with Will Smith and Philipp Kurashev with a wrist shot from the left circle just 1:47 into the game.

He struck again about four minutes later when he beat Vanacek on a breakaway for his 12th goal of the season.

Celebrini’s 30 points and 13 goals are the most by a Sharks player in the first 20 games of a season.