The King dominates the NBA night: 39 points, 11 rebounds and 7 triples which bode well for the future of the Lakers and which allow him to continue the run-up to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record.
Maybe we forgot, but LeBron James is still one of the masters of the NBA. After the forced rest due to injury and the return on the night between Friday and Saturday for the first of the two matches against Spurs (21 points), the King played the rematch between the two teams 24 hours apart, this time without the Anthony Davis dominant in recent weeks, exploding with a 39 points, 11 rebounds, 7 triples scored on 12 attempted and a perfect 10/10 from the line.
All this sealing the victory of the Los Angeles Lakers, the fifth in the last six games, with 23 points in the second half and 14 points in the last period scored practically in the first 4 minutes of the final fraction to keep Gregg Popovich’s team at arm’s length. LeBron appeared physically very perky, with the alley-oop collected by Russell Westbrook for the powerful nailing on the counterattack and a shooting-form more fluid than the player who appeared very clumsy in the challenges before the physical problem that kept him out for the last two weeks. Powerful, and also talented, as only James has accustomed us to in the last two decades of dominating a playing field.
The run-up to Kareem continues
With tonight’s monster performance ei 60 points back-to-back against the anything but irresistible Spurs now sent towards tanking and the Wembanyama dream, James is even closer to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s All-Time first place, now distant 1016 points, with the overtaking that should take place in February, for the last great record that would represent the definitive icing on the cake of an infinite career. And in which longevity and the ability to have an impact over the years by adapting to different styles of play and shaping his basketball in a way that is increasingly congenial to the evolution that has framed him in the two decades of activity, act as a real distinction in the much debated discussion of the Greatest of all time.
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Still being able to make a difference, in the twentieth season, shouldn’t be taken for granted even if the match in question is against a roster stripped of talent and already projected towards next season. And the fact that James can still enjoy nights of such carefree superiority against opponents who more often than not come to be half his age is a privilege to which the native of Akron has accustomed his fans over the years, ending up making even such competitions obvious and not worthy of note.
Is there light in these Lakers?
The yellow-purples, meanwhile, with tonight’s victory they are approaching the tenth place today of the Warriors (2 games difference) and the same direct Playoffs (with sixth place instead 3 games away), in a Western Conference more dense than ever of talented teams and where you can imagine some of the current brilliant teams playing in the best ways like the Utah Jazz (who had a tremendous schedule in their first 25 games) or the Sacramento Kings is really complex.
The Lakers, despite having made marked progress since a disastrous first month, first of all they benefited from a particularly generous timetable, with 3 of the last 4 matches played against San Antonio, one against Detroit, one against Brooklyn with several defections and the only full back Nic Claxton left prematurely, and the match against Phoenix lost even if played almost to the end. And with the upcoming month evidently busier than the past two weeks it is highly likely that the holes in the roster built in the last two summers they will come back with topical arrogance.
The absence of shooters and the defense of the iron continue to make the much-talked-about trade with the Indiana Pacers tremendously necessary, which could have already brought about in recent weeks Buddy Hield e Myles Turner in California in place of Russell Westbrook and two future first picks, but GM Pelinka’s reluctance to give up more post-James pieces has stalled any negotiations for now. Meanwhile, Westbrook’s own rebirth in the new role of sixth man and the vehement return of an Anthony Davis “bubble” version for aggression and confidence, it seems to have removed that sense of urgency in the marketplaceno longer necessary with so much dust that the last few games have hidden under the carpet.
However, imagining that Lonnie Walker could represent the team’s most formidable shooter (the 10-game streak with 47% should not mislead) and that Thomas Bryant somehow knows how to compensate for Davis’ desire for a partner under the planks is very complex, and with the balances that the franchises in tanking will open shortly, the duty of the management is not to disperse the last energies of James and also the renewed desire for Davis, setting up a roster capable of establishing itself in a Conference which, precisely because of the aforementioned medium level in rapid growth has no real masters and seems open to all. Even so as not to make nights like this completely useless.
