LeBron James scored +7 in 29 minutes for the Lakers in the season opener against the Nuggets. In the 19 minutes he played, they were -19, losing the game by 12 points.
Last season, LeBron averaged 35.5 minutes per game but missed 27 games due to a foot injury. The previous season he averaged 37.2 minutes per game and missed 26 games due to injury.
The Lakers have added depth this season, in part to be able to reduce LeBron’s minutes and hopefully get him to play in more games and advance toward the playoffs while rested and healthy (when his minutes will when increasing). In terms of minutes, both LeBron and coach Davon Hamm said what we saw in the opener was the plan. Here are their comments after the game: Hat tip to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
“It’s easy for him to get caught up in the emotion of a game and you tend to forget you want to play for such a long time, but in order for him to be as efficient as possible we have to pay attention to the output per minute, how long his stretches are,” Ham said.
“Listen, I mean, I always want to be on the court. Especially when you have a chance to win a game or you feel like you can make an impact,” James said after the game. “But that’s the system in place and I’m going to follow it.”
LeBron made it clear in follow-up commentst, that’s the number of minutes he expected, and he’s not mad about it. It seemed like the Lakers’ goal was to get LeBron to play 30 minutes a night (a goal he could have reached, but as the game turned out, Ham withdrew from the starting lineup in the final 1:15).
It’s a good plan, but the Lakers have to do better this season outside of LeBron. Anthony Davis scored 17 points on 6-of-17 shooting that night, D’Angelo Russell scored 11 points on 11-of-12 shooting, and Austin Reeves made 4-of-11 shooting. This counts as a night on the road against the defending champions, but if the Lakers are to pose a threat to Denver, Phoenix, Golden State or any other team that might pose a threat, the depth of the Western Conference — Negative numbers with LeBron on the bench are unlikely to be a trend. The Lakers’ game against Phoenix on Thursday will be one to watch.
Here are some other stories from around the NBA as the season opens Tuesday: