The Los Angeles Lakers’ final stop of their road trip was all about LeBron James as he put together his first real LeBron-like performance of the season. The superstar scored 10 straight points down the stretch and finished with 29 to go along with seven rebounds and six assists to lift the Lakers to a 112-108 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers.
With Austin Reaves having his worst game of the season and Luka Doncic obviously fatigued from traveling back and forth from Slovenia for the birth of his second daughter, the Lakers needed James to carry them in the clutch and he looked like the player who has dominated the NBA for the last 22 seasons.
Afterwards, Lakers head coach JJ Redick spoke about everything that LeBron did on the night to really lift the team when they needed it most, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“I really thought his play throughout the game gave us such a lift. One of the things that he did extremely well tonight was screen and using his gravity to create an advantage either for the handler or getting behind, rolling behind and then playing out of that. He certainly scored the basketball, made some huge shots, huge shots down the stretch. But really on a night when Austin didn’t have it and Luka clearly, with all the travel he’s had this week, wasn’t at necessarily his best scoring the basketball. Still did a lot of great stuff for us and ended up with a triple-double. LeBron was like our connector tonight. The second action stuff was huge.”
Since debuting this season after missing the first 14 games due to injury, LeBron had yet to really look like himself. And at this stage of his career, of course there were questions about whether father time was finally catching up to him. But a performance like this was a reminder that James is still capable of this kind of game on any night and the Lakers coach believes that even someone of his caliber needs that reminder sometimes:
“Yeah, I don’t think LeBron needs confidence. But it’s a fair question because I do think it’s important to be reminded every now and then of what you’re capable of. And for him to have the injuries and then to sort of start the season playing catch-up in a way. And start the season playing catch-up with a team that is also in a really good rhythm and, as a player, I don’t care how good you are, that’s tough to figure out. So tonight was super important.”
Even though James is arguably the greatest player of all-time, what he is doing now, playing in 23 NBA seasons is uncharted territory for anyone. The Lakers have been good enough to win as he finds his rhythm, but as Redick pointed out, it is good to know he can still reach that next level when necessary.
Lakers Deandre Ayton says watching LeBron James take over ‘felt like a movie’
For Lakers center Deandre Ayton, this was his first time witnessing a LeBron James takeover up close as his teammate and the big man was in awe at the performance.
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