The Los Angeles Lakers are finally above .500 after a couple of tumultuous weeks, struggling with injuries, health and safety protocols, and their usual problems on the court. They beat the Sacramento Kings at Crypto.com Arena to win their 20th game of the season, which places them at 7th in the Western Conference standings.
After the game was over, LeBron James couldn’t hide his excitement, revealing he’s comfortable playing heavy minutes despite his age and all the effort he puts in every game. He’s willing to do anything to get wins and last night was a big sample of that mentality.
“I’ve always put myself in a position where I can play heavy minutes and do whatever it takes to help this team win,” he said post-game, via Sporting News.
“Coach has done a good job, either through Frank [Vogel] or when Fiz [David Fizdale] was the interim coach at the time, just trying to watch my minutes at times, but we also need to win ball games as well.”
Moreover, The King credited the team for not turning the ball over that much, which opened the door for them to get shots and overcome the always dangerous Kings. It looked like his comments were aimed at Russell Westbrook who has struggled in that matter.
“Well, that’s the reason we won the game,” James said. “We won the game because we did not turn the ball over tonight. And when we get shots at the goal, we can be very dangerous. And we weren’t shooting the ball well at all, and because we didn’t turn the ball over, we caught fire. We caught fire, because we got shots at the goal and we didn’t turn the ball over.”
Turnovers have been a major source of concern for the Lakers. They have lost games mainly due to that reason and fans are tired of seeing them struggling with the ball in their hands. Westbrook has received the most criticism from fans and media members, but it’s good to see he’s playing smarter now.
Brodie recorded his first game with zero turnovers since March 2016, ending a 5-year, 407-game streak. Hopefully, he keeps playing this way, which is exactly what the Lakers need to succeed this complex season.
