At the age of 19 and 37, LeBron James continued to shoulder the responsibility for the Los Angeles Lakers, putting on another monstrous performance against the Sacramento Kings.
In 36:28 minutes, he led with 31 points, five rebounds and five assists, dominating the fourth innings to help the Lakers win 122-114.
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Despite the many miles on his feet, LeBron is currently second in the NBA in minutes per game (36.9), behind only Toronto Raptors keeper Fred VanVleet, who is a decade younger than him. Of the top 10, there are only three other players north of 30 with Kevin Durant alongside LeBron, followed by James Harden (5th) and Damian Lillard (6th).
Los Angeles has been left out this season with Anthony Davis’ prolonged injury absence, plus numerous players on and off the roster due to health and safety regulations, meaning the Lakers have had to lean on LeBron later than they’d like, however, he says he was more prepared for extra time, with this season the most minutes he has averaged in a Laker uniform .
“I always put myself in a position where I can play the heavy minutes and do whatever it takes to help this team win,” he said after the game.
“The coach did a great job, through Frank [Vogel] or when Fiz [David Fizdale] As an interim coach at the time, I was just trying to keep track of my minutes, but we also needed to win the football games. “
Over the course of his career, LeBron has averaged more than 37 minutes in 12 full seasons, the most recent of which he came in 2016-17.
“I feel pretty good, I don’t feel like I’m playing 37 minutes a game and that’s not a record for me either, I’ve had a season where I averaged 42.5,” he said. about his 2005-06 season. for the Cleveland Cavaliers at the age of 21.
After a slow start, shooting 6/16 from the field during the first three quarters, LeBron was locked in for a long time, shooting 6 of 10 in the final inning as he broke through the Kings defense, delivering some Choose words towards their bench after a large bucket is left in under a minute.
LeBron scored 14 of his 31 points in the fourth quarter alone, but he had some help from running teammate Malik Monk as the duo combined for 25 of 37 points in Lakers fourth quarter.
LeBron’s Q4 snapshot
Monk finished with 24 points, while Talen Horton-Tucker added 19 points from the bench and Dwight Howard 14 points and 14 rebounds in just 21 minutes on the field.
Russell Westbrook had 19 points, seven rebounds and two assists, scoring his first game without a goal since March 2016 when the Lakers only flipped the ball in the low five times as a team. .
“That’s why we won the game,” LeBron said. “We won the game because we didn’t overturn the ball.
“We didn’t shoot very well and because we couldn’t turn the ball over we were on fire.”
Tonight’s game continues to extend the lead for LeBron, who has averaged 34.3 points, 9.8 rebounds and 5.9 assists over 55.4% since coming on and 39.5% from 3-point line in his past nine games.
With the win, the Lakers have now won three games in a row and four of the five have passed as they move above the .500 (20-19). They want to continue their winning streak on Friday when they host the Atlanta Hawks at Crypto.com Arena.
