The Los Angeles Lakers finished their first road trip of the season 1-4, falling to a 4-4 record, and effectively erasing their 3-0 start under new coach JJ Redick. Without Anthony Davis and Rui Hachimura, the Lakers fought an uphill battle, only made harder because only King James showed up. Bron scored 22 points in the first half and kept the game close until Memphis blew the game wide open in the third and never looked back. Ultimately, LeBron James scored 39 points against the Grizzlies and gave JJ Redick some takeaways moving forward for the Lakers.
“LeBron was terrific–he’s almost 40 years old, and he played the hardest on our team,” the rookie coach said, via Mike Trudell on X, formerly Twitter.
Lakers superstar shines despite ugly loss
It might have become a Lakers tradition at this point that LeBron James still needs to carry the team to wins, like Wednesday versus the Grizzlies, even at nearly 40 years old, as JJ Redick mentioned.
His supporting cast didn’t shoot the ball well, and without AD in the middle, the Grizzlies made them pay all night. Moreover, the Purple and Gold couldn’t take advantage of Ja Morant leaving the game in the third with a hamstring injury.
However, at 40 years old, James simply is not physically capable of putting a team on his back every game like he did in the past. This isn’t 2018 LeBron who can win multiple playoff series by himself. This version of Bron is a second option, maybe even third, on a championship team and the first option on a mediocre one.
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Likewise, Redick understood this, too, which was why he made AD the centerpiece of their offense. Davis also thrived under JJ’s new system, scoring over 30 points in all but one of the games he has played thus far.
As always, the King’s teammates must answer the call consistently if they want to win, especially if Davis is out for a while due to his left heel contusion, and at least until the Lakers make a trade to fill their roster needs, if they do.
Perhaps Redick benching D’Angelo Russell for stinking it up on the court will finally wake him and the others up before they repeat the same old Lakers song and dance: qualify for the play-in, win one or two extra games to make the playoffs, and then get booted early because their stars got gassed from carrying the squad.