LeBron James must have paid attention to the criticism. He wasn’t going to have two bad games in a row!
LeBron James did not look good at all against the Clippers. The last statement was being polite. When his rival, Kawhi Leonard was in the building, he looked passive and old. After the beat down, LeBron James downplayed the “rivalry” thing going around. That did not go over well at all.
Was LeBron James watching ESPN’s First Take the morning of the game?
LeBron James had better bring it for a good stretch because the stench of opening night will stick with him at least until the Clippers roll around again. It’s LeBron’s doing and he’s going to have to own this.
“Revenge Season” was his idea and the media ran with it. The NBA world (Let’s add New Balance to the party sounding the alarms!) believes the Kawhi is the “King” of L.A. and LeBron James now has to make people believe in him again.
Maybe this game can be a good start to building trust again. However, even though LeBron dominated the game, some will think it was because Leonard is on a road trip.
LeBron put in a good night’s work with 32 points, 10 assists and only one turnover. He also contributed seven rebounds to the Lakers’ cause. Instead of disappearing late in the game like he did Tuesday night, he had 23 points in the second half.
The LeBron/AD connection was a point of emphasis that got handled quite early in the game.
https://twitter.com/NBATV/status/1187925394726350850
About 20 seconds into the game, the pair set the tone early with an alley-oop dunk that sent Joe Ingles to the corner in shame. The Jazz needed Ingles in this game and it seemed that this play sent him into a fog. He only scored two points in 28 minutes, only took two shots (He almost blew his layup on the break) and played very listless and contributed little.
There is so much talk about LeBron James and his basketball I.Q. It was on display in this game. Granted, the Jazz did not put up much of a fight, but it was clear that he needed to make improvements from the last game and more pick and rolls were one of them.
Granted, the Jazz power forwards were terrible in this game, but that’s not the Lakers’ fault. The Lakers are a devastating pick and roll team. During the preseason, Davis and James could not be stopped in the pick and roll. Does this result look familiar?
https://twitter.com/NBATV/status/1187947972476039168
James sets up the high pick and roll with Davis. With Vogel putting AD at the center position, it put Gobert in a position to come out of the paint because he has to respect the jumper. When Davis set the pick, Green made the mistake of following LeBron instead of rotating. The next part is easy because you can throw the ball to the championship banners because AD will get it.
LeBron was also aggressive taking the ball to the post. Something that he is going to have to do more this season. Lake Show Life has stated over and over in these reports that LeBron James is tough to stop when he puts his head down and goes to the basket.
It was his night and he played very well. Thank goodness the Lakers have another All-Star forward in the mix.