The Lakers torched the Heat 134-126 tonight after another masterclass from Luka Doncic and LeBron James to extend their winning streak to eight games. In the postgame press conference, JJ Redick spoke to the media and expressed his feelings on James’ performance tonight.
“He’s a psycho, he’s a psycho,” said Redick in disbelief. “I’ve said this to the group. I think when you wake up this morning, you feel groggy, waiting on that text from Dr. Sims on what the early status of our players is.”
“Go through the day, hear some promising things, for LeBron, Luka, AR, Smart, all these guys are just battling the heavy minutes and the workload of what they’re required to do every night, and four of them were all playing.”
“So, to me, I said there are different ways to lead, and that’s just leadership right there. In the same way that Luka willed it for us tonight, LeBron willed it for us,” concluded Redick.
Redick has hailed LeBron James’ work ethic several times throughout the season and has been instrumental in five of their eight wins in this streak.
The 41-year-old star was already having a special night as he came one step closer to shattering another NBA record tonight: the most games played in the league’s history.
He tied Robert Parish’s record with 1611 games played and commemorated it with the 152nd triple-double of his career. James ended up with 19 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 assists while shooting 8-12 from the field (67.0 FG%).
Meanwhile, the Slovenian superstar Doncic had 60 points, seven rebounds, three assists, and five steals to secure a career-high in points for the Lakers. He shot 18-30 from the floor (60.0 FG%) and 9-17 from beyond the three-point line.
Even Doncic praised LeBron’s performance tonight while talking to Mike Trudell on the sidelines.
“Like I said yesterday, without him we don’t win. So the way he’s playing is incredible to see and incredible to watch,” said Doncic.
Kevin Durant said after last night that the Lakers are beatable, even if Luka drops 60, only if the other players are stopped. James is one of those players.
Even at age 41, James is proving himself to still be a crucial difference maker for the Lakers and playing like an unstoppable freight train at times.
The Lakers are now headed to Orlando to face the Magic on Saturday, March 21. They improved to 45-25 for the season and are two games ahead of the Timberwolves, creating some separation for themselves in the third seed over the last 12 games.
