Los Angeles Lakers survive the Miami Heat, 3 lessons

Forget the stats. LeBron James was non-existent in the first half, but exploded in the second half!

Most media outlets will show the highlights of this game and bring out the fact that LeBron James was one rebound shy of a triple-double. They’ll say that he combined with Anthony Davis to take care of the Heat. This will be the correct facts. However…

Let’s talk about the other side of things. To start the game, LeBron had so many turnovers, he could have started a pastry business in South Beach. LeBron James turned the ball over seven times in the first half alone and finished with a team-high (Who are we kidding? A game-high!) eight turnovers.

Even worse, it seemed every turnover turned into points for the Miami Heat. They collected 18 points in the first half off of turnovers.

Then he redeemed himself in the second half. One 3 point jumper from deep got him started.

Then it was on. This sparked an 11-0 run led by the King himself. LeBron finished the game with 28 points, 12 assists and 9 rebounds (2 offensive!) to cancel out one of the worst ball-handling exhibitions of his career.

LeBron James deserves a huge shout out from Lake Show Life for accepting the criticism for his poor play from his teammates. What was even more impressive was the fact that he admitted it in the post-game interview after the game.

Last year, he was called out for his body language and he really shut down. This year, he accepted the challenge from his peers and delivered. He played great.

Frank Vogel mentioned to the team to just play free and not worry about the past turnovers. Well, LeBron listened.

Dude really needs to stop right here. With the game close late, LeBron taps the ball to Anthony Davis off the offensive rebound for the dunk. The presence of mind to do this along with the athleticism shows why this guy not only has the talent, but the mental toughness to go with it. This was not always the case throughout his career.

LeBron James recorded the 769th game of 25 or more points in his storied career. That ties him for 3rd on this prestigious list of efforts in NBA history with Michael Jordan. Only Karl Malone and Kareem Abdul Jabbar have more.

Breaking News to Lake Show Life. Anthony Davis is so good, it doesn’t make sense.