Los Angeles Lakers: 4 Lessons from win Brooklyn Nets

BROOKLYN, NY - JANUARY 23: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers shoots the ball against the Brooklyn Nets on January 23, 2020 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2020 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)
BROOKLYN, NY - JANUARY 23: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers shoots the ball against the Brooklyn Nets on January 23, 2020 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2020 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Los Angeles Lakers
(Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images) /

LeBron James led the All-Star players in votes (Again!). He was the best player on the floor (Again!).

There’s this rap group named Whodini that has this song called “Friends” that applies to situations like this. LeBron James comes to town to compete against Kyrie Irving, who basically made it clear that he wanted out on Cleveland and forced a trade to Boston. They hug. Even Charles Barkley doesn’t believe the act.

But there’s a lyric in the song that rings clear when it comes to LeBron’s performance last night.

"“It was done so sweet it had to be a plan.”"

LeBron James played the Knicks game at times like he didn’t care. Against Brooklyn, he was going to have a better game than Kyrie Irving. This just in to Lake Show Life, he did.

https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/1220517731922935809

LeBron James had 27 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists while collecting  his 10th triple-double of the season.  On the all-time scoring watch, James now has 33,626 points which is 17 points behind Kobe Bryant’s 33,643.

It looks like a perfect set up for center stage to break Kobe Bryant’s record. It will dominate the NBA news cycle for the next 36 hours leading up to the game on national TV. It’s the perfect Hollywood script. LeBron goes back to Kobe’s hometown to break his scoring record with the NBA world watching.

But to be clear here, that’s not what happened in this game even though it’s a perfect conspiracy theory for LeBron haters everywhere.

Brooklyn just played bad defense. LeBron can’t be stopped one on one with a guard.

https://twitter.com/espn/status/1220548282121965568

This happened a lot in this game. The Nets put Spencer Dinwiddie, Kyrie Irving and Wilson Chandler on him like it was really going to work. It’s one thing to let the man shot 3-point shots (Okay, he’s not the greatest at that!), but to let him work in the post? Come on know, he hasn’t fallen off that much.

Another game, another triple-double, and another major milestone to fall on Saturday.