CHARLOTTE, N.C. — It’s an All-Star Game lesson that Lakers fans hope applies to the rest of the regular season:

Underestimate LeBron James at your own risk.

The 34-year-old team captain didn’t win the MVP – that honor went to his first overall draft pick, Kevin Durant (31 points). But James was right at the forefront of a comeback from 20 points down on Sunday night, as his handpicked team topped Giannis Antetokounmpo and company 178-164 at the Spectrum Center on Sunday night.

Even his fussy groin injury, the one that has kept him out of 18 games this season so far, looked temporarily healed as he caught lobs from Dwyane Wade, his former teammate and close friend. The 34-year-old wasn’t at the height of his powers for the entire game – All-Star games are rarely exhibitions of all-out effort – but with 19 points, eight rebounds and four assists in his 15th consecutive All-Star Game appearance, he’s still the player fans expect him to be.

“You put me on the floor, I love to compete,” he said. “I’m a competitor no matter what it is.”

Even in exhibitions, James plays to win: His team overcame a 38-point performance from Antetokounmpo, the Milwaukee Bucks forward who is one of the regular-season MVP front-runners. Some of Team Giannis’ top plays came in the first half, particularly a Steph Curry bounce pass that soared above the backboard before Antetokounmpo flushed it with a tough reach about 2½ feet above the rim.

But James’ merits as a team-drafter came to roost: Kawhi Leonard scored 19 points, while Klay Thompson (20 points) and Damian Lillard (18 points) sparked the bench.

Team LeBron outscored Team Giannis 96-69 in the second half. Team LeBron coach Mike Malone, who worked with James closely for five years as a Cleveland Cavaliers assistant, told a (possibly apocryphal) story about halftime, when his players were down 95-82 but wanted to watch rapper J. Cole perform at halftime.

“I said, ‘Listen, I’ll let you go watch the concert,’ Malone said, “if you promise to get your (expletive) back in transition.”

Team LeBron fell in line, holding Team Giannis to fewer points in each quarter as the game progressed.

The offensive spark came from Lillard, who tied the score with back-to-back third-quarter 3-pointers that he drilled from the midcourt logo, sending the bench exploding in celebration. Timely shooting from Durant and Leonard helped close the door on Antetokounmpo’s squad, which he had drafted to be scrappy over being experienced.

The teammate who might be the most talked about of James’ selections was held out for most of the game: Anthony Davis scored just five points in under five minutes, reportedly held out over concerns of a lingering shoulder injury. Kyrie Irving, James’ former partner in Cleveland, had 13 points and tossed an assist for a furious James dunk late in the fourth quarter.

But James’ favorite moment might have been the pomp surrounding Wade, who scored seven points in his final All-Star appearance. He didn’t quite have the splash of Dirk Nowitzki, who drilled three straight 3-pointers after subbing into the game in the first quarter, including a shot before the buzzer. Both were presented with framed jerseys before the final quarter.

James called it “bittersweet” – the bitter part that it would be the last time the two are playing on the same floor.

“And then the sweet part of it, seeing him be able to go off on his own terms,” James said. “He’s just able to hang it up when he was ready to hang it up and be at peace with it all.”

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Adam Silver says he talked with LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard about Lakers’, Clippers’ choice to play on Peace is something that’s far from James at the moment. With the Lakers (28-29) in 10th place in the Western Conference, James said he would immediately shift forward into concentrating on making the playoffs.

“That’s the only thing that’s going to happen in my mental space for these next two months,” he said. “Pretty much on how I can get this team playing the type of basketball we were playing before my injury.”

It was only for one game, but Malone said he remembered the rush of confidence he felt with James as one of his players rather than one of his opponents. He sounded like he wouldn’t count him out.

“LeBron is the greatest player in the world, and he can do anything out there, and he makes all of his teammates better,” Malone said. “Tonight was just another example of that.”