Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick entered his second postseason appearance as a massive underdog against the Houston Rockets, but he and his team were able to pull off a convincing upset. A major part of that was the play of LeBron James, shouldering all the offensive responsibilities in his 23rd season at 41-years-old.
While James was not efficient in Game 6, his scoring mentality is what led L.A. to a series-clinching win. He led the team with 28 points and Redick believes that the four-time champion possesses the greatest career of any NBA player.
“The coaches came back when we get an all-in call after the game and when we all went in there, I don’t know why, but the lights were off and literally every single guy was going ‘Baaaaaa, baaaaaa.'” Redick said with a smirk.
“It speaks to his greatness. To me, he’s had the greatest career of any NBA player. You can argue all you want and I really don’t care to postulate on who’s the greatest of all-time. But, he’s one of, if not the greatest all-time and for him to do it again and answer the bell again, it’s baffling in some ways.
“The leadership aspect that I talked about, he just has this ability to set the tone for the entire group and he did again tonight and our guys responded. I’m really happy for him, I’m really happy for him.”
Through the six games, James averaged 23.2 points, 7.2 rebounds and 8.3 assists on 43.2% from the field. Despite his age, as Redick mentioned, he continues to deliver when he is relied upon and Los Angeles needed every ounce of his production without Luka Doncic.
Houston tried to make it extremely hard on him by playing physical and preventing him from getting downhill. However, it did not matter in Game 6 as the future Hall of Famer established himself early in the mid-to-low post.
Thankfully, L.A. now gets three days off before playing the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round and they will need everyone to be mentally sharp. The Rockets provided a sample of how Oklahoma City plays, but their two-way play is elevated and James needs to answer the bell again if they hope to have any chance of another upset.
LeBron James ‘celebrating small victories’
Although he is in his 23rd season, James still wants to win at the highest degree. However, he also wants to celebrate the small victories as the Lakers pulled off a surprising upset against the Rockets.
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