LeBron James made his 51-point haul against the Miami Heat look easy, according to Los Angeles Lakers coach Luke Walton.

On his return to Miami, where he won two NBA championships, James had 51 points and eight rebounds in the Lakers' 113-97 win over the Heat on Sunday.

James moved past Allen Iverson and into outright sixth for the most 50-point games with the 12th of his career.

Walton hailed the 33-year-old's performance and said James was in such good form, he made it look simple.

"When players are as good as LeBron and they're having a night, things just look easy for them," Walton said, via NBA.com.

"It's not easy, but they make it look that easy because they're that good."

The win was the Lakers' seventh in their past nine games as they improved to 9-7 after a slow start to the season.

James was happy with his performance, which included making six of eight from three-point range.

"I put a lot of work into my craft. I've been shooting a lot of threes, a lot of mid-range, a lot of free throws," he said.

"I'm just trying to get my timing back, so it's good to see when the work pays off."