Los Angeles Lakers: 4 Lessons in bounce back win over Portland

The Los Angeles Lakers got the dominant LeBron that they needed

This game might not have been LeBron James’ best game of the season, but it was definitely his most important. The Lakers were struggling mightily, and after the Utah Jazz blowout, it was plain to see that it was more than the absence of Anthony Davis and Dennis Schroder. LeBron’s lack of engagement and focus brought out a ton of criticism from Lake Show Life.

•   Los Angeles Lakers: 3 Lessons in a humiliating loss to Utah Jazz

An early double-digit deficit in this game looked like nothing was going to change. By the end of the first quarter, LeBron flipped a switch and started dominating on both ends of the floor.

In 36 minutes of work, James finished 28 points on11-21 shooting, 11 rebounds, seven assists, four steals and three blocks. This is not LeBron going for empty stats here. The Lakers needed everything that he provided. This was a huge difference from a Jazz game, where he went through the motions.

LeBron led the Lakers in every major statistical category (points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals). According to Elias Sports Bureau, this marks the 49th time in his career that he has led his team in all of these categories in the same game. Kevin Garnett is second with 29 games.

This is the engaged LeBron that has to show up every game while Davis is out. He has to dominate and be the best player on the floor.

Sure, Damian Lillard scored 35 points in this game, but he couldn’t induce easy scoring opportunities for his teammates like LeBron did. Plus Dame’s frustrations affected him on the defensive end at times.

No matter how great LeBron’s performance was on the floor, it took a back seat to his press conference when he was asked about Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s criticism of using his platform to influence change on social injustice.

Yet another slam dunk.

Despite LeBron James’s wizardry on the basketball court, the Lakers’ fortunes were definitely buoyed by the return of Dennis Schroder. After coming back from NBA’s health and safety protocols, he looked like he didn’t skip a beat. Read on to see how he did.