HEAVY
Lebron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers goes to the rim during the first half against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
LeBron James took over D’Angelo Russell‘s starting point guard job and did wonders for a desperate Los Angeles Lakers team.
James became the oldest NBA player to score 40 points on a perfect 3-point shooting, leading the Lakers to a much-needed 129-120 win over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday, December 23, on the road that snapped a four-game skid.
James strung nine straight points — two 3-pointers that sandwiched a 3-point play — late in the fourth quarter that finally put the Thunder away.
“To know I can go out and still make game-winning plays, can affect the game in multiple ways and can still close out a game in the fourth quarter when our team needed when they started making a run is always a good feeling for sure,” James told reporters after such big night a week before he turns 39.
But what set up James and the Lakers for success was coach Darvin Ham’s major decision to bench D’Angelo Russell in favor of the bigger and defensive-minded Jarred Vanderbilt. The switch allowed James to control the pace of the game on offense and gave the Lakers flexibility on defense.
“We add a lot of length from the perimeter to our wings all the way down to our center,” James told Spectrum Sportsnet’s sideline reporter Mike Trudell of Russell’s removal from the starting lineup.
“Obviously in [Anthony Davis], we have the ability to guard multiple positions, switch a lot of actions but more importantly we were able to clean glass and I thought when they missed shots, especially in that second and third quarter, we cleaned glass. They gave us an opportunity to score on another end.”
