LOS ANGELES: LeBron James and Bronny James became the first father and son to play in the NBA together Tuesday night during the Los Angeles Lakers’ 110-103 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The 39-year-old superstar and his 20-year-old son played almost 2-1/2 minutes together late in the first half of Bronny’s NBA debut. They are also the first father and son to play in the NBA at the same time, let alone on the same team.

LeBron scored 16 points, while Anthony Davis had 36 points and 16 rebounds in a dominant performance for the Lakers. Rui Hachimura added 18 points.

JJ Redick won his head coaching debut for the Lakers, who hired the 15-year NBA veteran for his first coaching job at any level.

Anthony Edwards scored 27 points for the Timberwolves, who are coming off their best season in 20 years.

Julius Randle had 16 points and nine rebounds, and Donte DiVincenzo had 10 points in their Timberwolves debuts after the trade sending Karl-Anthony Towns to New York three weeks ago.

Dalton Knecht scored five points in the Lakers’ first-round pick’s debut.

Takeaways

Timberwolves: There will be growing pains in the post-Towns era. Davis ran rampant against Randle and Rudy Gobert, and nobody stepped up to score alongside Edwards.

Lakers: Their largely unchanged roster showed the benefits of continuity, playing disciplined ball on both ends and getting organized defense led by Davis.

Key moment

Davis was phenomenal down the stretch, either scoring or assisting on 13 of Los Angeles’ next 15 points after he returned to the game with 7:09 left. LeBron’s 3-pointer put it away.

Key stat

LeBron officially joined Vince Carter as the only players in NBA history to play in 22 seasons. James is sixth in career games played with 1,493 — not counting his NBA-record 287 playoff games.

Up next

Timberwolves: At Sacramento on Thursday.

Lakers: Host Phoenix on Friday.

VIENNA: Austria’s Dominic Thiem, a former US Open champion, was swept aside 6-7 (6-8), 2-6 by Luciano Darderi at the Vienna Open on Tuesday, ending his career on home ground after battling a long-term wrist injury.

Earlier this year, Thiem had announced his retirement from tennis, giving up on his fruitless struggle to fully recover from the injury he sustained in 2021.

On Tuesday evening, his Italian rival, 22-year-old Darderi, did not seem to dominate at first, winning the first set in a tie-break.

But the world No. 42 gained steam as the match progressed, beating an ever more loudly grunting Thiem 6-2 in the second set.

“I would really like to thank you for all the sensational years, because of course I am only a part of this all, the whole career,” Thiem told the cheering crowd after the match.

“A huge thank you to everyone for their support over the years. The whole journey was an absolute dream,” he said to his almost 10,000 fans, which celebrated him with standing ovations.

Former world No. 3 Thiem, who is currently ranked 318th, needed a wildcard to play at the ATP 500 in Vienna.

The 31-year-old Austrian’s career has nose-dived since his crowning moment in 2020 when he beat Alexander Zverev in the COVID-affected US Open final behind closed doors.

Back then it appeared that he was finally poised to challenge the likes of Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.

However, his career took a turn for the worse in mid-2021 when he suffered serious ligament damage competing in Mallorca, and was forced to sit out the rest of the year.

He played just two Slams in 2022 and his ranking fell to outside the top 100 for the first time in over a decade.

Heading into his final ATP tournament on Tuesday, Thiem, who went pro in 2011, had won just two main draw matches all year.

Throughout his career, Thiem won 17 career titles and more than $30 million in prize money.

Over the weekend, current and former tennis players including Zverev — who Thiem faced one last time for fun on court — and Boris Becker paid tribute to the Austrian in a farewell party attended by thousands of fans at Vienna’s Stadthalle.

Video messages by Djokovic, Nadal and Federer were shown on Sunday, with many praising Thiem for his good vibes and camaraderie.