LeBron James has been leading the Los Angeles Lakers in the current season pretty well. The LA side has come a long way since the 44-point loss against the Philadelphia 76ers. But initially, the Lakers had to deal with a number of injury issues to key players. On top of that, two essential young talents like, Hachimura and Austin Reaves didn’t start the season on a promising note. Lately, Austin Reaves is gradually coming back to his natural form.
Moreover, the Lakers Nation would like to see Rui Hachimura also get back his natural form. However, he just came out of an injury break. The Japanese forward wore a mask to protect his nose in the game against the Phoenix Suns. Anyway, it is quite clear that the LA side is on the right track to have a healthy roster. Even after the game against the Houston Rockets, LeBron James mentioned that their focus is on getting healthy.
LeBron James Believes If The Team Stays Healthy, They Can Achieve Their Goals
On Saturday, in the post-game interview, the all-time leading scorer said the more they get healthy, the more they will be able to achieve their goals as a team. Moreover, LeBron James sounded very happy to see the return of Jarred Vanderbilt in their rotation. He mentioned that Vando means a lot to their ballclub as he’s one of the league’s premier perimeter defenders. Moreover, what surprised LeBron James the most during the game against the Rockets was the team’s energy after a long road trip. It is always difficult to have great energy as a whole team after a tough road trip.
But the Lakers found that energy against the Rockets as well as the Suns at home. On Saturday, the Lakers did another thing pretty well that they weren’t doing in the season initially. They performed well in the first half. Moreover, the Lakers had a pretty good second quarter against the Rockets. LeBron James revealed what made the difference in that game. The Lakers star said they defended well, shared and moved the ball really well. But mostly, LBJ was happy with how Austin Reaves performed against the Rockets. Lately, AR continued that same form against the Suns as well.
Lakers Will Meet Pelicans In The NBA Cup Semis In Las Vegas
Currently, the LA franchise is 13-9. Moreover, the Lakers defeated the Phoenix Suns 106-103 to qualify for the semi-finals of the inaugural in-season tournament. They will face the New Orleans Pelicans in the semis of the inaugural NBA Cup. Currently, the Pelicans are 12-10. It would be another interesting battle. Anyway, the Lakers had a close and exciting battle against the Suns. But they must be glad as they came out victorious from their home court.
In fact, it was a battle between the two greats of the game – LeBron James and Kevin Durant. Moreover, KD displayed a strong performance but could not stop the LBJ’s army. LeBron James must be happy as the key players in the team performed well against the Suns. Some of them even came out of injury breaks. For instance, Jarred Vanderbilt and Rui Hachimura. Albeit, Vando did play in the game against the Houston Rockets. But his presence sure made the Laker’s defense get stronger.
