After a tough start to the season with a 1-4 road trip, many were worried about the Los Angeles Lakers and their chances this year. However, since then, the team has bounced back strongly, with LeBron James and Anthony Davis leading them through a six-game winning streak.
Dalton Knecht starred in the Lakers’ latest win against the Utah Jazz, but LeBron continued his impressive play with 26 points and 12 assists. The Lakers’ offense has looked smoother, and LeBron highlighted the good plays that the coaches have set up and how his teammates are hitting shots.
“We have some really good sets,” LeBron said. “We have some really good movement, and the team trusts me a lot with the ball, and I’m just trying to put the ball on time, on target, to my guys.
And it’s great to have guys that can make shots and guys that can make plays. AR, DLo. Obviously, AD, DK. Rui [Hachimura] when he’s in the lineup. We just try to keep guys’ defenses off balance.”
The Lakers have several players who can step up and take control of games. With LeBron and Davis drawing the most attention, players like Knecht, Rui Hachimura, and Austin Reaves are able to capitalize.
While the win streak hasn’t come against the toughest opponents, LeBron feels the key is that the Lakers are winning and fixing early-season issues.
“We won. We’ve been playing the right way,” LeBron said when asked about the win streak. “Man, I think we had some adversity that we handled very well on the road trip in New Orleans and San Antonio, and then we come back home after a road trip and play some good ball.
“But, over the course of the winning streak, we just been playing the game the right way. We’ve been cleaning up a lot of things about transition defense, which has been really bad for us early on in the season. We cleaned that up.
Cleaned our turnovers up. And then offensively, we’ve been very, very strategic and very on point, where we want to run and how we want to get to it.”
The Lakers are clearly a stronger team than last year and already seem better than they did just a few weeks ago. They have identified their weaknesses and are working hard to fix them. As long as this continues and LeBron and Davis stay dominant, they will be a tough team all season.
LeBron James isn’t surprised by Dalton Knecht’s recent strong performances. The rookie’s play may have surprised others, but LeBron has seen his potential for a while.
“That he’s been a pro for a while,” James said about Knecht’s recent stretch. “I talked about it last year, so it’s no surprise to me… No surprise to me.”
