During the first few games of the season, I often asked myself, "When's LeBron gonna start LeBronning?" James has looked passive and disinterested in almost every game until very recently. I don't know what flipped the switch inside him tonight. Arnold Schwarzenegger was calmly in attendance sitting courtside. Could he have been trying to impress the Terminator? Maybe he was sick of allowing Damian Lillard to look like a beast in games where they faced up against one another. Whatever it is I'd genuinely like to know. We probably never will.
He played like Cleveland Cavaliers playoff Bron. He was out there STRAIGHT GIVING A SHIT on defense, calling for the ball, and attacking the rim like a runningback on offense. He passed Wilt Chamberlain for fifth on the NBA's all-time scoring list en route to posting a dominating stat line of 44 pts, 10 rebs, 9 assists, 1 steal, 3 blocks, 13/19 FG, 5/6 3 PT FG, and what impressed me the most 13/15 from the free throw line! Those free throws were instrumental in gaining and maintaining the lead instilled at the end of the second/beginning of the third quarter.
I don't know what tomorrow will bring, but tonight it feels good to be a Laker fan. Check the quarter-by-quarter recap below.
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Game Recap
First Quarter
The start of this game felt promising. Brandon Ingram's lanky ass was getting matched up a lot with the much smaller CJ McCollum since Ingram got the start at shooting guard. He was capitalizing on the mismatch with a couple midrange jumpers to put the Lakers ahead early. The rest of the team was shooting well from the field as well until Portland came alive.
The Trail Blazers just kept getting easy looks from the Laker defense. Portland's star guards led the charge killing them from beyond the arc and in transition as well. JaVale made a couple of careless mental errors which materialized into turnovers, so you bet that Portland took advantage of the opportunities. Things were getting a little out of hand so Luke Walton elected to call timeout with the team down by a few points with about six minutes remaining.
That break brought in a lineup composed of bench guys plus LeBron and Ingram. The bench mob did a nice job of generating looks and converting them, cutting the Portland lead down to six with a minute to go 30-24. Portland just put on a display of hot shooting. They closed it out up by seven 33-26 after one quarter of play
Second Quarter
The bench plus JaVale McGee stayed in to start the second. Portland ran their offense for Meyers Leonard, opting to get him looks off the 3-pt line and midrange baseline while the Lakers sought out JaVale for shots close to the hoop. It was working to some extent, but Portland's D contested them well in response. The visitors held an eight point advantage as the Lakers scrapped and clawed to get back in the lead. Whatever LA tried it wasn't working, so Luke called time with 7:30 remaining and the boys down ten 42-32. Portland was basically deadeye from beyond the arc, 7/10.
The starters plus Josh Hart came back in to drum up some mojo. A Lonzo step-back three in the corner broke a Laker scoring drought and put them back by a sizable margin of ten, 35-45. Kuzma and LeBron's shots didn't look particularly wet. You could tell they were still searching for their rhythm.
The Blazers FINALLY missed couple shots, prompting the Lakers to respond quickly with five of their own(Lonzo corner three and LeBron drive in transition) to cut the deficit to five 45-40. It all started with some excellent perimeter defense by Lonzo on Lillard.
The Lakers shots started falling from three to much delight o the LA home crowd, but a bad omen overfell them when Tyson Chandler had to go to the locker room. Replay showed that his left hand might've been twisted by Jusuf Nurkic while Nurkic was putting a move on him in the post. Chandler immediately walked to the bench after the play then into the locker room.
The team started getting out in transition after that Chandler sequence happened, going on an 19-8 run. They had a new life to them all of the sudden. LeBron was leading the break and feeding the young kids for flashy slams and layups. LeBron even got a monster block on a rising Damian Lillard. The game was all tied at 53 with one minute to go in the half. Blazers got a bucket to go ahead by two and LeBron went to the line with a chance to tie it up - but missed BOTH free throws! His free throw shooting is a real problem this year, he has even publicly admitted it. But despite his free throw woes, LeBron nailed two DEEP back-to-back threes to close the half out Lakers up four 59-55. He was playing at a sustained level of aggression that we hadn't seen this year
Third Quarter
It was announced during the half-time report that Tyson Chandler had a chest contusion and would be coming back into the game. The first series of points scored in the third were by Aggressive LeBron and Brandon Ingram. The Lakers were blazing to start the quarter! They shot 6/7 and displayed excellent ball movement (save for some Brandon Ingram ill-advised mid-rangers). Portland counter-punched their run, but LA ended up on top by seven with a little under eight minutes to go, 71-64. JaVale was having an incredible game, shooting 9/12 with 18 points in 18 minutes.
After a Portland timeout, LeBron kept playing with an aura aggression on both ends. He already had 25 pts, 9 rebs and 8 assists with a little less than half of the third remaining. Damian Lillard wasn't going to go quietly into the night though. The Blazers kept it neck-and-neck, making it a two-point game with a little more than three minutes remaining 80-82. A Lonzo three pushed it back to a five-point lead, and then all of the sudden LeBron came up with a HUGE block leading into a transition and-1 to give the Lakers a seven-point lead. Timeout Blazers 87-80 two minutes remaining.
Damian Lillard sank another deep three out of that timeout. What else did you expect from the brash point guard? The Blazers had a chance to cut the lead down even more but missed - then several plays later LeBron cushioned the lead with a hard drive down the middle. Bucket and the foul! He sure was playing with some cajones! This was how he should've been playing since preseason Game 1. A pair of LeBron free throws put the Lakers up nine with seconds remaining in the third 94-85. Moments later they closed out the third up eight, 97-89. On to the fourth!
Fourth Quarter
LA's second unit came in to start the fourth as LeBron and Lillard caught their breath. Things kept rolling for the purple and gold as KCP and Josh Hart started cooking from beyond the arc. They stretched the lead to sixteen with ten minutes remaining in the fourth.
Following that, the refs whistled the Lakers for a series of questionable calls that turned into five unimpeded points for the Blazers. The Laker bench counter-punched with some baskets of their own to push the lead back to sixteen, but Luke called time after a Blazer basket with seven minutes to play in the game. Lakers up 112-98.
The game slowed down after that sequence. The refs took their sweet ass time reviewing calls which killed the upbeat flow of the game. One notable thing to happen was LeBron passing Wilt Chamberlin in the fourth quarter for fifth on the NBA's all-time scoring list. After that, the Lakers tried putting this game to bed but the little things just wouldn't break their way, keeping Portland in the thick of it. Things ended up settling in the Lakers favor as the home team walked away with the big nine-point home victory over one of the top teams in the Western Conference 126-117.
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Takeaways
So right as I was about to write some takeaways I learned that Rondo actually broke his hand tonight. He's going to be out for a few weeks. I think the play was a transition sequence gone awry where Rondo fell to the ground. He must've landed on his hand awkwardly. He darted to the locker room shortly after taking a tumble.
This is going to have a huge impact on Lonzo. He's going to be freed up for more minutes/shot attempts and I couldn't be more excited. I like the leadership that Rondo brings but above all, I want to see Lonzo get more crunch time reps and experience next to LeBron.
He hasn't been as much of a handler as much as he was last year. These days he gets a lot more spot-up shooting looks. He isn't bad at moving off-ball and freeing himself up for shots, but converting those shots can either be a pleasant surprise or an embarrassing ordeal filled with airballs. His position as a ball-handler in the pick & roll is a more natural fit. LeBron and Lonzo have shown potential in pick & roll sequences with both guys able to switch off as the screener. I'm giddy at the thought of seeing more action like this. Brandon Ingram may play some more point guard as a result of the Rondo injury. He stepped up at PG when Lonzo went down last year and he didn't do half bad.
But getting back to LeBron's game tonight. It was a much-needed dominant performance from James. On the surface, all Laker fans have acknowledged that LeBron hasn't been trying his hardest this year on either end. But I think deep deep down, we were wondering if he could still bring that to our franchise. When the hell was he going to start acting like the greatest player of this generation? He still seemed to be in great shape. What gives? Tonight there was no ambiguity about that. Check out the highlights on tonight's game below
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