LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers hosted rookie sensation LaMelo Ball and the Charlotte Hornets Thursday night. Ball made waves earlier in the week when he claimed he was not fazed by playing against James for the first time. Perhaps to emphasize his place on the throne, James showed out and led his team to another win.
James in his bag early
The Lakers and Charlotte traded baskets through the first 4 minutes of the game. Control slowly began falling toward the Lakers midway through the first, however. James started out aggressively, scoring 12 of his team’s first 18 points – 13 for the quarter. Dennis Schroder added 10 points of his own to help carry the load for the Lakers in the first. Charlotte was much more balanced in their attack, with no one scoring over 6 points in the quarter.
The back-and-forth pace continued to start the second, but the Lakers built some momentum to gain complete control midway through. Charlotte went brick-ice cold during this stretch and found themselves down by 18. They cut the deficit to as little as 10 in the final minute of the half, but James was having no parts of that. He continued to pour it on individually, draining a triple before a buzzer-beating layup to push the lead back to 15. The King ended the half with 22 points on a near-perfect 8 of 9 from the floor.
Poking the nest
The Hornets came out of the locker room with a new sense of urgency, going on a 17 to 4 run in the first 4 minutes of the third. After a slow start, Ball – a frontrunner for Rookie of the Year – came alive in the quarter and extended that run with a game-tying layup. However, back-to-back threes from Kyle Kuzma plus another from Kentavious Caldwell-Pope put the Lakers back on top, 74-66. Things became sloppy on both sides as the quarter concluded, with both teams committing unforced turnovers. Yet, the Lakers took an 84-79 lead into the final period.
Once again, Charlotte hit the floor playing inspired basketball in the final frame. They cut the Lakers’ lead to just 1 to force a timeout. Something in the huddle clearly woke the Purple & Gold up; they immediately went on a 10 to 0 run. The Lakers maintained this cushion through the duration of the game.
Missing in action
An interesting note was the lack minutes for Ball down the stretch. Charlotte coach James Borrego kept him off the floor until there was only 1:43 left to play. Ball wasted no time scoring his next bucket when he came back in, but it was too late to make a difference. He led the way for Charlotte with 26 points, 7 assists, and 5 rebounds.
Despite a few hiccups, the Lakers (28-13) escaped with a 116-105 victory over Charlotte (20-20) to extend their win streak to 4 games. James was the high man in the game with 37 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists. In nearly 37 minutes of action, he shot 14 of 22 from the field and 4 of 9 from deep. Schroder added 22 points and 7 assists, while the rest of the load was evenly dispersed. After averaging 24 points over the last 4 games, Montrezl Harrell had a slower night with 7 points and 11 boards.
“I think he’s damn good to be his age,” James said of Ball. “His speed, his quickness, his ability to make shots at all facets in the paint – floaters, threes – and he’s going to only get better. Every game is a learning experience for him. Him and Zo are two just very unique players in our league, and they showcase that every night.”
Terry Rozier backed Ball up with 20 points and 5 rebounds for Charlotte, and P.J. Washington added 18 with 8 boards.
The Lakers are back at it in Atlanta Saturday against Trae Young and the Hawks at 12:30 p.m. PDT.
