LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers took on the Oklahoma City Thunder for the second straight game and came away with their second straight win.
After a rough game defensively, the Lakers defense finally came through at the end to secure a 130-127 victory.
In a game that was pure offense, James led the Lakers through all four quarters, once again as a playmaker. He came out and made a number of plays for himself and his teammates, including a pretty bounce pass to Anthony Davis in the first quarter.
The Lakers offense got a jump start thanks to their incredibly hot three-point shooting led by Danny Green and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. The pair combined for eight of the team’s season-high 17 three-pointers.
Davis had himself another big game, really doing anything the team needed. He had one four-point play in the first half and came up with another one late in the game to push their lead to five points. Davis added seven assists, including one beautiful tip pass to James who slammed it home.
Davis also closed out the game with four straight free throws to push the Lakers lead to three. He finished the game with a game-high 33 points, 11 rebounds, and four three-pointers.
Caldwell-Pope had a well-rounded game in addition to his shooting. He had a number of nice passes to the Lakers big men including an alley-oop to Dwight Howard. He finished with 17 points, five rebounds, and two assists. However, no play was more impressive than his buzzer-beating three-pointer after a mid-air pass from James.
One defensive spark on the night was Rajon Rondo who was distrupting the Thunder offense in addition to hitting a number of open threes. Unfortunately, Rondo appeared to intentionally force his leg into the groin of Dennis Schroeder which resulted in his ejection. Rondo finished the night with eight points and four assists, which brings him to 7,003 assists in his career.
Kyle Kuzma had a solid game in his return after injuring his eye in the team’s last game. Donning the James Worthy-like goggles, he finished the night with 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting and one key chasedown block.
The Lakers defense made a couple of smart plays to help secure the victory, but it was James who sealed the game with a steal with under five seconds left. James finished the game with 23 points, six rebounds, and 14 assists.
This marks James’ seventh game in a row with double digit assists. He will be looking to continue that streak against the Memphis Grizzlies in a back-to-back situation.
