It was not a pretty game, but the Los Angeles Lakers were able to push through a rough night and defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves in Tuesday night’s Play-In Tournament game to secure the seventh seed in the Western Conference. When it mattered most, it was LeBron James making the biggest plays and ensuring head coach Darvin Ham would make the playoffs in his first season.
LeBron led the Lakers with 30 points to go along with 10 rebounds, six assists and two blocks. But he was also a big part of the Lakers’ 20 turnovers as he gave it away five times himself including in some key moments late in the game. But Ham still had nothing but praise for LeBron in leading the Lakers despite the mistakes.
“Just a champion,” Ham said when asked about LeBron after the game. “He had some tough moments, some balls that got away from him… But make no mistake about it, I told him after the game, the entire team, this game was the definition of having the next-play mentality. We had a lot of loose possessions, we had a couple defensive breakdowns, they were able to hit some huge 3s to create a deficit and we just kept chipping away at it.”
The Lakers trailed by as many as 15 points in the contest but continued to fight and it was their defense that was the difference down the stretch, allowing them to get back in the game.
For them to score 60 points in the first half and then the way we defended as the game wore on from the third quarter to the fourth quarter to overtime, it was a testament to this team and the grit and grind, the high competitive spirit.
“And LeBron is at the forefront of that,” Ham added. “The constant communication, even when things didn’t work out, some unfortunate plays, but no one got down on each other, no one had personal attacks. Just everybody passionate about how can we best close out the game and again, he’s the main one.
“He’s been the main one not just tonight but through the course of the season, since we made the deals at the deadline to get these new guys acclimated. Him and AD both, and I think the guys around them seeing how they communicate with us as coaches and amongst each other, it frees them up to not be reserved but to be more willing to communicate and see what it is that we need.”
James remains the leader of this Lakers team and in his 20th season, continues to put on performances that no one at this stage of their career should still be able to do. Ham was thankful of the effort James gave, diving for loose balls and making other hustle players to ensure L.A. got the victory.
“But he was spectacular in the biggest moments and really put us on his back and did the little things like you said, chasing down trying to get 50-50 balls, being a threat screening-and-rolling and trying to handle. Happy we were able to pull it out.”
Now the Lakers’ focus turns to the Memphis Grizzlies as LeBron will look to lead this team on a long playoff run.
Lakers’ LeBron James breaks down Grizzlies roster ahead of first-round matchup
If anyone was unsure how dialed in James is ahead of the playoffs, he made it clear that he knows exactly what is in store for the Lakers against the second-seed Grizzlies, breaking down their roster from top to bottom.
“A really good team. Very well coached. Very well-balanced,” James said of the Grizzlies. “Obviously, the head of the snake in Ja Morant. Another All-Star in Jaren Jackson, who was up on Defensive Player of the Year. His ability to block shots, but offensively he’s very dynamic as well. Tyus Jones off the bench has led the league in assist-to-turnover ratio like the last six years, so he complements them very well. Desmond Bane, I think in his third year, second or third year, but he plays like a veteran. His ability to shoot the ball from the three-point line. Also, his ability to attack in early transition. Dillon Brooks, an opportunity to go out there, you can’t disrespect him because he makes shots and Xavier Tillman has been playing good basketball. Obviously, he’s been well coached from his college days with Coach [Tom] Izzo to know and so on.
“They’ve got Luke Kennard who broke my scoring record in high school. He passed me in high school, and the reason why is he’s a laser from the three-point line. His ability to shoot the ball is uncanny. And they’ve got so many other guys off the bench you just can’t disrespect because they will make you pay.
“Obviously, I haven’t thought about Memphis one minute,” James joked.
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