Lakers, LeBron James takes ‘no-nonsense’ approach to winning in-season tournament against Lakers.pioneer

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LeBron and the Lakers found their footing with a win over the Trail Blazers in the in-season championship game on Friday.

The Los Angeles Lakers’ relatively comfortable 107-96 victory against the Portland Trail Blazers in the season championship game on Friday gave them a great platform to rebound from a sluggish home loss to the Sacramento Kings. LeBron James made sure his team profited at the Moda Center.

“No crap from start to finish,” Davon Hamm said of LeBron’s mentality. “Leading the charge. Setting the table. Not just for himself, but for his teammates.”

Once again, LeBron effectively pours water into the bucket while challenging preconceived notions about aging. In 35 minutes, the 38-year-old tied a season-high 35 points on 13-of-22 shooting, including 5-of-9 from 3-point range, to go along with nine rebounds and five assists.

“I always preach efficiency,” LeBron said. “And I like to be productive every time I get on the court.”

James has been very lukewarm from three-point range in 2022-23, but over his past four games, he’s made 14 of 26 from downtown. His shooting percentage this season is as high as 39.7%. His overall field goal percentage was 57.2%. Encouragingly, the Lakers performed well from long range for the second time this week — 12-for-30 (40 percent).

“He’s in good rhythm,” Anthony Davis said. “Then it kind of got cheated. … He played like he was the all-time leading scorer. He just put his team on his back tonight. “Other guys just filled in the gaps. “

Davis, who finished with 16 points on 8-for-19 shooting, is still dealing with left hip/adductor spasm. He went 3-for-9 from the field against the Kings. Unlike Wednesday, Davis admitted the injury was hindering his abilities.

“I’m fine. I mean, full transparency, it still bothers me. But I’m going to try to go out and compete. Obviously, I’m not the same person offensively, with shots not falling, jumping ability and all that stuff. Not back to where I was before. But I tried to make up for that on the defensive end and try to impact the game outside of scoring.”

AD’s numbers sum up the Lakers’ performance: six turnovers (now a recurring problem for the team), but also 14 rebounds, five blocks and three steals.

“He was just trying to set the tone,” Hamm said. “LeBron sets the tone for our offense…AD does the same thing on the defensive end.”

The Lakers made up for their sloppiness (18 turnovers) and persistent rebounding woes (the Blazers had 19 offensive rebounds) by holding the Trail Blazers to 40.4 percent shooting and wreaking havoc with the ball handler. . The Lakers scored 27 points on 19 turnovers, 11 of which came from steals (Cam Reddish remains a pest in the backcourt).

Davis doesn’t underestimate his importance to the Lakers’ defense.

“I was running back, linebacker, safety, cornerback, everything, I was everywhere. Just trying to serve the team. I told the guys, ‘Get the ball to me. I’m going to help you guys.’

D’Angelo Russell finished with 14 points and six assists and continued his stellar long-range shooting (4-for-7). Christian Wood finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Austin Reaves had his second consecutive forgettable game, playing just 17 minutes, 50 seconds – and that’s something to watch.

Friday’s Western Conference Group A game did not affect the Lakers’ concentration. LeBron says While the Lakers don’t put “all their eggs” into the in-season tournament basket, they do understand the “incentive” of getting a high seed in the knockout round — hosting the quarterfinals — which the Lakers could easily Can enter the knockout round.

But in the end, the Lakers’ 48 minutes in Portland came on the back of a turnover.

“Lost to the Sac a couple days ago,” AD said. “Want to come back and get in the win column.”

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