LeBron James continues to defy Father Time as he put on another strong performance in Game 3 to will the Los Angeles Lakers to a victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.
James poured in 25 points on 10-of-20 shooting, playing with a sense of urgency and ensuring that the Lakers retake a lead in the series. James looked spry on both ends of the floor, especially offensively as he threw down a couple of dunks that electrified the Crypto.com Arena.
The King’s great performance comes on the heels of Dillon Brooks’ disrespectful comments after Game 2 when he called James old and that he hadn’t earned his respect. James has been given every opportunity to fire back at Brooks, but he once again decided to deflect any questions and shifted the focus back to beating the Grizzlies as a whole.
“At the end of the day, I think my resume and what I’ve done for this league speaks itself for itself. So I don’t really get caught up in any comments like that. Like I’ll continue to say, my focus is on my teammates and us trying to figure out a way how we can beat the Memphis Grizzlies. Not how I can beat an individual on their team. If anybody should know me, they should know that’s always been what I’m about. And that’s all that matters.”
Brooks certainly isn’t the caliber of player that James needs to demand respect from, and the trash-talking seems to be working against him as he’s yet to make much of an impact during the series. Brooks actually hurt Memphis in the first quarter as he couldn’t make a shot and later got himself tossed for hitting James in the groin area in the third quarter.
Brooks was assessed a Flagrant 2 foul just seconds into the start of the second half. The league has shown that they’re not afraid to suspend players with Draymond Green recently missing the Golden State Warriors’ Game 3.
When asked about a potential suspension for Brooks though, LeBron said it’s not up to him to decide.
“I mean, I don’t know. I’m not a part of the committee so if he’s in the lineup, if he’s out of the lineup, we got to prepare no matter what. Look forward to the challenges that Monday will bring.”
James has so much postseason experience and knowledge that he knows better than to feed into what Brooks is trying to dish out, so it shouldn’t have been surprising to hear that he’s locked in on the task at hand. In all likelihood, Brooks will keep trying to get in the 38-year-old’s head but he shouldn’t expect much success given James’ ability to stay cool, calm and collected under any circumstance.
D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves stress need to make things easier for Anthony Davis
While James had a solid Game 2, the same couldn’t be said for Anthony Davis, who struggled mightily shooting the basketball. Davis was forced to contend with a much more physical Grizzlies team that was diligent in knocking him off of his spots and forcing him into tough looks.
D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves took notice of what Memphis was doing and acknowledged that they need to make things easier for Davis. Fortunately, they did just that in Game 3 and hopefully it continues into Game 4.
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