When I saw LeBron's performance of 40 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks today, I believe all viewers and Lakers fans will sigh:
If he were five years younger, how good it would be to be able to play like this!
What championship are the Lakers worried about, and what other trades are they designing?
Who knows that there is no less in life? The flowing water in front of the door is still able to go west! Hugh will sing the yellow chicken with white hair.
Four consecutive defeats, five losses in six games after the midseason and falling to 10th in the West, and losing again in this game will be caught up by the Warriors behind them, coupled with Russell's trade rumors and Vincent's injury before the game, there is no doubt that this is the most difficult game this season after the injury before facing the Clippers at home.
The Lakers, who had an ambitious season, did not expect that after winning their first midseason title, difficulties and troubles would erupt, and today's game was a game that they had to change and have to win.
As it turns out, whether it's Coach Lu in the past or Hamm now, when you have a hard time coaching James, the safest thing to do is to trust him unconditionally.
It doesn't matter if he's 30, 35, or 39 in 10 days.
So Ham changed his formation before the game, and Russell, who was at the center of public opinion, was put on the bench, which is the best thing for him and the team at the moment. Van der Biao was promoted to the starting line-up, and Prince and Reddish were paired with James.
So, after winning the championship in the 19-20 season, LeBron once again took the de facto No. 1 position.
Considering his physicality, the Lakers have been looking for a ball-handler who can share the ball with him and reduce the burden on the offensive end since the beginning of the 20-21 season, from Schroder and Westbrook to Reaves and Russell, there have been successes and failures.
But everyone understands that when the Lakers must win a game, they still have to rely on Lao Zhan.
On the opposite side, the Thunder is second in the West, not only has Alexander, the top attacker in the league today, but also Holmgren, who is the most like a small-ball center version of the answer after thick eyebrows, and the second in the league in three-point accuracy (38.6%).
But as soon as it opened today, the Lakers let people see a familiar scene.
On the defensive end, the strategy of stacking on the strong side and pressing on the high post was still adopted, but because the "cash machine" Russell was replaced by Van der Biao, who was better in size and more influential, the compactness of the defense line was greatly improved.
The Thunder were unable to use Alexander's breakthrough to change the situation, and they could only rely on more tackling jump shots to solve the problem after the opening.
On the offensive end, LeBron's organization is obviously more precise and stable than Russell and Reaves, and he does not rely on breaking through to kill opponents and change the opponent's defense, but relies on the team's tactical movement to drive teammates to find better opportunities.
First, he broke through and caused Thick Eyebrows to open the basket, then cleared the court for Prince to break through to make free throws, Thick Eyebrows hit a shot, and then assisted Prince for a three-pointer.
He's like a seasoned middle school teacher who can show the students around him how to run the system right when he's on the pitch, and this is the first time he's been leading the team's offense at the start of the season, before which he'd preferred to sit in the bottom corner and hand it over to Russell and Reaves.
After the half quarter, the Lakers and the Thunder both played relaxedly, the Lakers relied on James to direct the traffic to play calmly and calmly, and the Thunder relied on the young man's hand to cut points. Then Hachimura for Prince and Reaves for Reddish, the Lakers became regular starters in the second half of last season.
Hachimura had a blast today, hitting a three-pointer when he came up, and then James led the team to a 20-15 lead with a breakthrough and an air cut.
But the Thunder is indeed seasoned enough to be the second in the West, and seeing the Lakers' firepower gradually turn off, he began to take over.
Reaves scored seven points and two three-pointers in a row, and with Jalen Williams hitting the buzzer at the end, the Thunder led the first quarter 39-36.
Alexander scored 12 points and 5 assists in a single quarter, but fortunately, the Lakers' side scored 10 points in the first half of the quarter, and Zhan Meihe scored 15 points to stabilize the situation.
At the beginning of the second quarter, James continued to chase points with Russell, Prince, Hayes and Vanderbilt.
He assisted Russell twice to make him find his groove and score seven straight points, and then added a layup and an assist for Prince's three-pointer to give the Lakers 49-42 a single game.
This period of time was a turning point in the game
The Lakers used Hayes and Vanderbilt to protect the restricted area and took advantage of Alexander's gap after the break to chase the points. On the offensive end, Russell changed his previous ball-holding task and became a mobile battery next to LeBron, allowing the Lakers to continue to fire on the offensive end and complete the comeback.
But after the timeout, the Thunder also showed their ability to adjust and star hardness, Jalen Williams, who has improved significantly this season, began to continue to kill the Lakers, scoring 7 points with free throws, and Holmgren also took advantage of the thick eyebrows to rest and make waves on the inside.
The Thunder chased it to 53-55 in one go, forcing Ham to send a thick eyebrow, and James still did not rest, receiving Reaves' assist to hit a layup with the Thunder's three-person circle, and then Hachimura hit a three-pointer to pull the score away again before resting. At this point, he had been playing for 8 minutes straight.
And after he left the court, the thick eyebrows led the team to also stabilize the situation, Hachimura still shot hot, coupled with Prince and thick eyebrows inside and outside, the Lakers extended the lead to double digits (66-55) for the first time.
With a minute left in the first half, Ham sent James off again in order to maintain a double-digit advantage, and Reaves found Bushy and Reddish with two consecutive assists to give the Lakers a 71-59 lead at halftime.
And in the third quarter, it was James' turn to take charge of the Thunder.
In the first half, he scored 15 points and 5 assists on 5-of-8 shooting, "just" the role of the playmaker, and more to direct the team's offense, but in the third quarter, he scored 10 points on 3-of-5 shooting.
First, he assisted a thick eyebrow jumper to score, and then he hit a three-pointer, two free throws, and a backcourt layup to stretch the difference to 82-66, and the Thunder were close to a mental breakdown.
Just like the Pacers in the midseason, the entire Thunder realized that this game was going to be decided by Jade
But the Thunder are second in the West, and their toughness and strength are not comparable to the Pacers. Although the Lakers stretched the margin to 26 points at one point. But with Alexander's lead, relying on three-pointers and offensive and defensive transitions, the Thunder trailed the score to 91-107 at the end of the third quarter.
Considering that the Lakers were weak in the fourth quarter in the first few games, the game is not yet a certainty.
In the fourth quarter, the Thunder's counterattack came as promised, and they launched a passionate confrontation with the Lakers. Alexander's score was quietly 30+, while the Thunder also narrowed the margin to 104-114.
But today James and the Lakers showed their determination to win. LeBron also talked about the old man and was crazy, jumping shots, breaking three-pointers, and he scored 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting, 2-of-2 three-pointers, and 3-of-3 free throws in the quarter.
Like when I was younger, "I will take you to play in the first three quarters, and watch me play in the last quarter." ”
Although the game situation was heart-wrenching, the Lakers always maintained the lead with James' personal firepower. In the end, Oklahoma "pulled teeth" and ended the team's inexplicable four-game losing streak 129-120, while retaining the ninth position in the West, it also allowed the Lakers to have a good Christmas.
Before this game, don't look at James only missed two games in total. But for most of the time on the court, he was in the role of "spectator", and the team's main control was taken by him, Russell and Reeves in turn.
Whether it is offensive or defensive, there are many times when it is really "squatting in the bottom corner and smoking a bag of cigarettes".
So don't look at the 34.2 minutes of playing time is already over the limit, often playing the whole game in the fourth quarter.
But James's consumption in previous games is much lighter than that of Durant, who is struggling to support the Suns, and even Curry of the Warriors, Leonard of the Clippers and other "old comrades".
But with the team's form declining after the mid-season match, the old record that has been saved before is about to be wiped out. Vincent, in particular, broke out before the game that he was going to have knee surgery and was out of action for two months.
A series of accidents occurred in a year, whether it was due to the pressure of the record or the shortage of the team's guard line, so that LeBron, who is about to turn 39 years old, had to start the ball-carrier mode of "recovering the ball and dominating the game" in the regular season in advance, just like he did when the thick eyebrows were injured in January last season.
Whether this is a stopgap measure by the Lakers before the big trade, or a revolution that negates the previous strategy, let's wait and see.
Two days later, in the Christmas game, their opponents are real rivals, the Celtics and Tatum, who forced LeBron to "kneel" last season.