The Los Angeles Lakers have been searching for the answers to help turn things around and LeBron James and Anthony Davis have been doing everything possible to get this team back on track. For LeBron, as of late, that has meant an increase in his playmaking responsibilities.
The Lakers superstar has dished out at least six assists in 13 consecutive games, including 12 to go along with 22 points in the team’s victory over the Toronto Raptors. In this contest in particular, LeBron simply took what the defense gave him, which most of the time was good looks for Davis.
“I just just trying to read angles and things of that nature,” LeBron said. “And most of them was to AD. I was just seeing the way they were playing AD. They was allowing me to kind of come off the pick-and-rolls, I was able to hit AD with a couple pocket passes, he was able to finish them. So got him in a great rhythm early on, I think that carried on to the fourth quarter for us.”
For years, the Lakers have been trying to lessen the load on James, particularly his need to create for everyone. But it is no secret that the Lakers’ best success has often involved LeBron being the primary playmaker, and he feels that could help the Lakers’ success moving forward.
“Can be,” LeBron added when asked whether his assists could be part of the Lakers’ recipe for success going forward. “Obviously every game has its own challenges. But I will say the year that we won a championship, I led the league in assists.
“And not comparing that team because that’s a hell of a team that year when we won it but it’s always been a good ingredient when I have those good-assist games where I feel like everybody’s getting involved but when I have those high assists, most of them go to AD, and that means that’s very well. That works well for our team because he’s big time for us.”
The key to this is that a large number of James’ assists go to Davis, which gets him going and keeps him aggressive. Davis being locked in is absolutely crucial to the success of the Lakers so LeBron ensuring he gets in a rhythm ultimately benefits the Lakers overall.
The Lakers have other players who can create in Austin Reaves and D’Angelo Russell, but they just are not at the level of James. Of course most players aren’t, but if playmaking LeBron leads to more wins for the team, than that is what they will turn to.
LeBron James: It’s impossible for Lakers to win without Anthony Davis
As LeBron said, a large number of his assists go to Davis, and that was certainly the case in Davis’ season-high 41-point night against the Raptors.
Davis has been an absolute monster for the Lakers this season, but has taken it to another level in the past month and LeBron understands the importance of the big man.
“We can’t win without AD. It’s impossible.”
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