LOS ANGELES — Alijah Arenas made a stunning return to the spotlight with a single, awe-inspiring play.

He returned from a knee injury that had kept him off the court since the summer.

He survived a terrifying accident in a Tesla CyberTruck that nearly cost him his life.

He overcame weeks of uncertainty and concern about whether he would ever reach this moment.

On Wednesday night, the son of three-time NBA All-Star Gilbert Arenas made his much-anticipated college debut for USC, and in just 5½ minutes, he demonstrated exactly why this moment was so significant.

Unleashing a behind-the-back move that made one Northwestern defender stumble near the sideline, Arenas drove toward the basket before acrobatically spinning around another defender for a layup.

The smallish crowd inside the Galen Center roared in appreciation of the five-star prospect from Chatsworth High who’s considered by some as a possible first-round NBA draft pick. His father was watching from a spot along the closest baseline while seated next to former Trojan and Laker guard Nick Young.

Arenas had not played for the Trojans after injuring his knee in July and returning to practice last month, but his return featured a few spectacular moments during his team’s 74-68 loss.

The most highly rated recruit to play for USC coach Eric Musselman since his arrival before last season, Arenas flashed plenty of enticing potential, even if he did struggle with his shooting touch while finishing with eight points to go with two rebounds and two assists in 29 minutes.

The 6-foot-6 guard made just three of 15 shots, missing all six three-pointers.

“The results are not shocking to me,” Musselman said, alluding to the long layoff. “But he can create his own shot and he should be a high school senior, reclassified, missed an entire summer and then you’re throwing him in the middle of Big Ten play, so he doesn’t have nonconference play and all that stuff just based on injury and it’s a difficult thing for any super talented player to go through.”

After missing his first three shots, Arenas got on the board with a smooth pull-up baseline jumper. He combined silky moves with a willingness to draw contact, repeatedly leaning into defenders to force fouls.

“Man, he had some moves out there,” Wildcats coach Chris Collins said of a player who was not made available to the media after the game. “The 360-layup was pretty impressive.”

Having announced his return with an Instagram post, Arenas immediately moved into the starting lineup. He was introduced last before the game, charging onto the court through billowing smoke and raising both arms in acknowledgement of the cheers that serenaded him.

Just playing was a major triumph considering what happened last spring.

Arenas made a dramatic escape from a CyberTruck fire in April after the vehicle struck a tree, sending smoke pouring into the front of the vehicle. Stricken with panic because an app on his phone wouldn’t open the doors, Arenas moved into the back seat. His attempt to break a window also failed.

After pouring the contents of a water bottle onto himself to cool his body, Arenas remained trapped inside the vehicle for about 10 minutes before finally kicking out a window on the driver’s side. He was pulled from the wreckage by his legs, landing face down in a few inches of water left from a broken fire hydrant before being moved to safety.

Miraculously, he sustained no major injuries after spending six days in the hospital and being placed in a medically induced coma to treat smoke inhalation.

On Wednesday, his comeback was complete.

“The more he plays, the better he’s going to be,” Collins said. “He’s just a really tough cover because of his ability to handle the ball, but at the size he has — 6-6, 6-7 — he is a big-time player and the more he plays, he’s going to just keep getting better.”