One thing Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James has often been criticized for has been his willingness to pass the ball in clutch situations. Whereas many expect superstars to take that final shot no matter what, LeBron has always been willing to find the open teammate if he has drawn a lot of defensive attention.
That was the case in the Lakers’ victory over the Toronto Raptors as James found a wide open Rui Hachimura in the corner for a game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer. And head coach JJ Redick believes that in this instance, the basketball gods rewarded LeBron for always playing the right way, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“For sure, that’s what we talked about in the locker room. The basketball gods, if you do it the right way, they tend to reward you.”
Redick also noted the trust James has in his teammates to make that play, while also giving some credit to Austin Reaves for handling the double-team perfectly and putting LeBron in a more advantageous situation:
“I think it shows a level of trust in his teammates. I thought one of the big parts that play, once they fired on AR, was him stampeding that pass, which I think scrambled the defense even further than it was and it just allowed Rui all the time in the world to take that shot.”
While Reaves won’t get credited with anything on that play, had he made a bad read or pass when that double-team came his way, it very well could have changed everything so Redick making sure he got some recognition as well was ideal.
Of course, much of the conversation after the game was also on LeBron’s streak of 1,297 games with at least 10 points coming to an end. But Redick was more focused on the Lakers and how connected they were as a whole, even noting how expressive and intense James was at Hachimura’s moment:
“It pops up every now and then when he, like the other night against Phoenix where he ends up with 10 or whatever it was. I think we had one game last year. It’s really [Dave] McMenamin that keeps bringing it up […] Just joy. Just seeing Rui run across the court. The whole team, the group was just connected tonight. It was a fun night to compete together. I’ve seen that kind of expression on LeBron’s face of intensity and to do that when a teammate hits a shot is pretty awesome.”
This Lakers team is a close group who truly seem to enjoy playing with each other and rooting for each other’s success. They are at their best when moving the ball and being unselfish and that played itself out beautifully with their win in Toronto.
LeBron James believes it was ‘perfect way’ to end scoring streak
LeBron James scoring at least 10 points in 1,297 consecutive games is a record that likely will never be broken. If it had to come to an end though, James believes it did in the perfect way, passing to Rui Hachimura for a Lakers game-winner.
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