Beijing time on January 3, in an NBA regular season game that ended today, the Lakers narrowly defeated the Timberwolves 108-103, winning 2 consecutive wins, although Lakers star LeBron James failed to continue his 7 consecutive games to get 30+ scoring momentum, but the data is still bright, the whole game, James played 39 minutes, 15 shots 7, including 9 three-pointers 3, 12 shots 9 shots, 9 free throws, 26 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and 1 block.
Compared with the offense, James's performance on the defensive end of this game is more admirable, especially in the key fourth quarter, James took the initiative to take on the heavy responsibility of defending Timberwolves center Natz Reed, under James's defense, Reed, who fired 23 points in the first three quarters, did not score 1 point in the fourth quarter, only grabbed 2 rebounds, it can be said that James' successful defense of Reid is the key to the Lakers to win the game.
After the game, Lakers coach Vogel praised James for doing everything and praised James for restraining Naz Reed in the fourth quarter: "This is LeBron James, you can rely on him to do that, LeBron James can do everything. And Lakers guard Munch also said james contributed key defensive performances on the defensive end, especially in the final quarter, Munch said: "Yes, this is what he will do, this is what he does." He always comes forward at the crucial moments, whether it's scoring or defending, anything, and no ball. ”
Throughout the game, James delivered 3 steals, 2 of which came from the crucial fourth quarter, and each steal can be seen, James is very active and hard-working, for which he even ended up fighting until he kept panting with his hands on his knees. James has said he is willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of the team, and now it seems that he has done it.
Since the suspension of the thick eyebrow injury, James has been pushed into the position of starting center, in the face of pressure he not only did not passive, but went all out, in the defensive end, whether it is blocking or steals are very good, so far this season, James can average 1.8 steals and 1.1 blocks per game, of which the average steals per game can be tied for third place in the league.
And such a performance also allows James to get a return on the accumulation of career data, according to statistics, the current number of James's regular season career steals has come to 2106, ranking 11th in history, only 6 from the 10th in history Alvin Robertson (2112), with James's current steal performance, it takes only 3 to 4 games to complete the surpassing of Alvin Robertson and enter the 10th in the historical steals list.
For James, this is a very important honor, because all along, James hopes that his defense can be recognized by more people, which is one of the reasons why he wanted to get the best defense award when he was in the Heat than the MVP. At the same time, with the rise of age, many people are criticizing James for always being inactive and very lazy on the defensive end, but now, James is using practical actions to prove that he does not have any paddling mentality in defense, especially in the absence of thick eyebrows, he has become the team's first defensive core.
It is worth mentioning that James has a number of data accumulated into the top ten in history, as his career steals are about to enter the top ten in history, James's hope of impacting the top two in history is increasing, and I believe that there will be fewer and fewer doubts about him in the future.