The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Memphis Grizzlies 128-112 in Game 1 of their first-round series on Sunday and they had two somewhat unlikely heroes to thank for it.
Rui Hachimura and Austin Reaves dominated in Memphis, as they combined for 52 points to lead the team to victory. Their excellence meant LeBron James wasn’t required to have a big night and a Lakers fan thinks James has never had that kind of luxury in his career.
LeBron ain’t never had this type of help a day in his life pic.twitter.com/glL7I9Uf4s
— † (@HoodiHachimura) April 16, 2023
For much of his 20 seasons in the NBA, LeBron’s teams have struggled when he doesn’t play or doesn’t have a big night, but that isn’t the case with this group. When he went down with that foot injury in February earlier this year and missed 13 games, the Lakers managed to go 8-5 in his absence. In the past, his teams would have collapsed without him, but this group is different.
Here, Hachimura finished with a team-high 29 points, Reaves had 23, Anthony Davis had 22 and LeBron was just the fourth-leading scorer with 21 points. It was all Reaves and Rui in the fourth quarter too, as 14 of those 23 points for AR came in the fourth while Hachimura had nine points in the quarter. If their role players continue to step up like this the rest of the way, the Lakers will be very hard to beat.
LeBron James Says He Knew About Austin Reaves’ Potential From Their First Practice Together
LeBron was asked after the game about Reaves playing so well on his playoff debut and the King stated he knew about the youngster’s potential right away. Reaves went undrafted in 2021 before he was signed by the Lakers and after their first practice together, James realized he had a great basketball IQ.
Reaves has now played a big role in helping the Lakers snatch home-court advantage in the series and they are now the clear favorites to win this series. Charles Barkley thinks the Lakers have the easiest path to the Conference Finals and it would be some turnaround, if this team ends up there, after starting the season 2-10.
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