Los Angeles Lakers: 4 Lessons from win over New York Knicks
By Ronald Agers
LeBron James hit all of his free throws! Then the Knicks started playing him like Ben Simmons or something!
Yes, the most important part of the headline above is the free throws. LeBron went 7-of-7 from the charity stripe. The Lakers as a team shot 18-of-21 from the free throw line, so it was a good night for all parties that were wearing purple and gold.
But after this play right here, the New York Knicks had a strategy that is just as confusing as their business plan for building a roster and getting superstars.
https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/1214765793256230915
LeBron James drives through two players to draw the foul and get the free throw. Then the Knicks inexplicably defended James that will have the NBA laughing at them for the rest of the week. Julius Randle and other defenders decided to play under nearly every single ball screen the Lakers set for LeBron James, and let him shoot the 3-point shot.
https://twitter.com/NBATV/status/1214790758152040449
To be clear, they backed off in the paint at times and let him shoot. Umm it didn’t work. LeBron James shot 6-of-12 from the land of the extra point to finish with 31 points, 5 assists and 5 rebounds in 31 minutes.
He also passed Allen Iverson on the all time NBA steals list with 1,984. Yes, the man can play a little bit of basketball.