Missing Stephen Curry and his 3-point barrage?
LeBron James produced a masterful offensive performance against the San Antonio Spurs and led the Los Angles Lakers to a big 129-102 win at Staples Center. Don’t forget he is 35-year-old.
But as they say, the class is permanent, and the King reminded everybody, if anybody needs a trumpet to hear, that he is still very much the player who won four NBA MVP titles. The former Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers superstar buried five three-pointers in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter. He finished the game with a game-high 36 points, 9 assists, and 7 rebounds, and shot 12-20 from the field, including 6-9 shooting from behind the arc. 19 of his 36 points came in the fourth quarter alone.
”That’s what we’re all about,” James said on the moment when the Lakers’ entire roster crossed the court to pick him up in their arms following his 5th three-pointer. ”Our team, anytime anyone is having success in the game, we cheer like it’s our own. So having that camaraderie, having that brotherhood, even though they’re beating you up, it’s just a pretty cool feeling.”
Anthony Davis played a huge role in this win and perhaps gave everybody an indication that the Lakers and Frank Vogel have many tactics up their sleeves. Davis sacrificed some of his offensive traits here to mark LaMcrcus Aldrige down. And he did wonderfully well. Almost perfect as Davis managed to hold Spurs’ big man off to just 7 points, including 5 points in the first half. Lakers’ other big men, Dwight Howard (12 points, 11 rebounds) and JaVale McGee (14 points), combined for 26 points.
Davis ended with 18 points on 8-12 shooting, while Kyle Kuzma produced an efficient game, scoring 18 points on 7-10 shooting from the field, to go along with a team-high 12 rebounds.
For Spurs, DeMar DeRozan once again produced the best efforts and ended with 28 points and a team-high 9 boards. Marco Belinelli and Lonnie Walker scored 11 points respectively from the bench.
The win ended a two-game home skid for the Lakers and helped resume the normalcy at Staples Centre after Kobe Bryant’s death. Frank Vogel’s men will host Houston Rockets on Friday, while the Spurs will remain on the road for the next six games.
