Zhan Huangzan Lakers small lineup worked Vogel: will continue to try to use James to play the starting center

On January 1, Beijing time, the Lakers defeated the Blazers 139-106, and LeBron James had 43 points, 14 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. In a post-game interview, Lakers coach Frank Walker said james playing center has made the game easier and will increase the frequency of mini-lineups in the future.

James continued his strong performance in this game, he exploded 40+10 in 29 minutes, becoming the fourth oldest player in NBA history to have at least 40 points and 10 rebounds. This is also james's seventh consecutive game to get 30+, equaling the second longest record of his career, and when LeBron plays center, his sense of position becomes more mobile and flexible, which also inspires James's firepower.

Speaking about James playing center, Lakers coach Frank Vogel said: "His playing center has made our lineup more flexible, the team will develop game strategies according to different opponents, such as against the Rockets, Christian Wood is the team's starting center, his playing style is very outside, so let LeBron play the starting can be aligned with him." In the next game, the opponent's starting center was Adams, a very strong and tall interior line, so we let Howard play the starting center, which was an easy decision to make. Against the Blazers, there was no Nurkic, so we made him the starting center according to the strategy, and received good results. ”

In this game, when facing the Blazers' small lineup, James played the starting center and once again killed the four sides, to which Vogel admitted that James's appearance in the fifth position made the game easier.

'He made the game easy, and in the future, we're going to try more with a purely small squad to increase that frequency." Vogel said.

As a 37-year-old veteran, James is still able to play a super performance, and in an interview, LeBron also said that he is currently in a comfortable state.

"I got a reasonable break, I put in reasonable training, no matter what happened, my mind always thinks about the game, yesterday was my birthday, we also had a day off, but I'm still thinking about how to play the Blazers the next day, I'm in a great state right now, I want to be able to keep that feeling going, continue to do what I should do, lead the team." James said.

James believes that the small lineup increases the team's offensive firepower while moving faster on the defensive end.

"We've been looking for form in the last 5-6 games, we've been bringing our teammates back, we know exactly what the rotational lineup is on the court and we know how to communicate, and in this game against the Blazers, we've used the same lineup we did against the Rockets, which has allowed us to increase our speed defensively, limit the ball carriers, and on the offensive end, we've also increased our speed a lot, and in some games, that lineup has benefited us even more. When using a big squad, hopefully we can continue to maintain that efficiency. ”

Stanley Johnson was very active in defending Lillard, and Lakers coach Vogel also said: "Stanley has done a very good job in the bag and when it comes to restricting Lillard, his footsteps are moving fast, he has done a very good job. ”