On December 29, Beijing time, the NBA regular season continued. The Lakers beat the Rockets 132-123!
A victory that everyone rejoiced in, and only James was miserable!
Westbrook had fun with this game! James became the Lakers' starting center, and Westbrook could finally be his own. Although Westbrook's playing style has proved that it cannot bring the championship, it can certainly bring good data to Westbrook. Westbrook played 34.7 minutes in this game, scoring a triple-double of 24+12+10. After the game, Wei Shao publicly said that as the season deepened, they could use the small ball lineup and further improve.
In a post-game interview with Lakers acting coach David Fitzdale, he praised James: "LeBron's plus-minus when he played the fifth position was so good. But then Fitzdale said that the Lakers want the team's big men to "get involved in the game" as well, but plan to play "a lot of small balls" next. Incidentally, in the game against the Rockets, Neither Howard nor Jordan Jr. played.
In a post-match interview with Westbrook and Fitzdale, they revealed a common meaning: They like to play small ball, and will play more small ball in the future. There's no doubt that James will be pushed more into the No. 5 position because "LeBron's plus-minus when he plays the No. 5 position is so good."
But both Westbrook and Fitzdale overlooked one thing, or that they deliberately avoided it, james is 37 years old! James can play center occasionally, and it is okay to use the killer at a critical moment, but if you take this as a conventional tactic, don't you want to pit James? Although James plays center well, has he put James in the center position for a long time and considered James's physical fitness and health?
It could be said that if the Lakers captain put James in the center position in time, James's health will definitely be in trouble. Looking at the current situation of the Lakers, James's playing center may have been inevitable, and the Management of the Lakers has not been seen to intervene. Is it true that the Lakers have not considered fighting for the championship for the sake of the current victory and record?
However, if you think about it, it is also understandable that the Lakers' lineup this season, if the regular season record is really too bad, the Lakers management must have someone to take responsibility for. James has now become their lifesaver, who will think about what will happen later? Winning now is the most important thing!