Without Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves available, LeBron James and the rest of the Los Angeles Lakers have been forced to step into bigger roles during their playoff series against the Houston Rockets.
Fortunately for the Lakers, they’ve managed to not just survive but thrive in the playoffs as James has been masterful at dictating things on the floor. James forced overtime in Game 3 after hitting a game-tying 3-pointer in regulation and Los Angeles went on to hold on for the hard-earned win.
One of the best moments of the game came in the second quarter when LeBron threw a lob to Bronny James for a reverse layup. After the game, LeBron recalled how the play came about and what it meant to him to make history in the postseason with his son.
“He was calling for it,” James said on the Prime Video broadcast after the win. “I’ve seen his steps for so long, he was gathering and I was like, ‘Go get it.’ So I’m glad he was able to go up, reverse it. He also made a three when they tried to disrespect him and go under on the pick and roll. He gave us great minutes. Everyone that played gave us great minutes, but that was a special moment obviously.”
Bronny has gotten more run with the Lakers short on guards, and he’s been serviceable in spurts. However, he finally made more of a tangible impact as he scored his first points of the series and played solid defense.
The jury’s still out on whether or not Bronny will develop into a long-term rotation player, but so far he’s been able to contribute on a Los Angeles roster that’s biding time for Doncic and Reaves to return. Meanwhile, LeBron continues to prove to the rest of the league that he can still lead a team to victory in the postseason.
It’s hard to believe that the Lakers have a chance to sweep the Rockets on Sunday in Game 4, but in order to do that they’ll need to clean up some of their play from Game 3. There were too many moments where Los Angeles got disorganized, so it’ll be up to LeBron to keep them in check.
LeBron James believes Bronny James belongs in NBA
LeBron has always been supportive of his son’s NBA journey and he’s been happy to see Bronny finally starting to get his legs underneath him. While Bronny has a long way to go, LeBron believes he belongs in the NBA.
If you love our reporting, choose LakersNation.com as a preferred source on Google.
