LeBron James: “We Have to Stay Loose and Have Fun”

LeBron James was mentioning the other day his “playoff intensity mode.”

The King announced that he is going to enter his top shape a bit earlier than he used to in the previous years, all that because of his Lakers playoff fight.

Last night we saw just a glimpse of that against the Houston Rockets. King James led his team to a huge victory over one of the top teams in the league. The purple and gold came back from -19, and eventually won, 111-106.

This is a nice way to open the finish of the season and start some good streak after the All-Star break.

“We have got to stay loose and have fun,” LeBron said about the playoff fight, during the on-court interview right after the match. “We didn’t do that in the first half (of the season).”

James ended this match with 29 points, 11 boards and 6 assists in 40 minutes on the floor.

👑 @KingJames' 29 PTS, 11 REB, 6 AST sparks the @Lakers 19-point comeback win vs. Houston! #LakeShow pic.twitter.com/61lnVtt4jl

— NBA (@NBA) February 22, 2019

His Lakers were down 79-60 with 6:57 until the end of the third quarter, and couldn’t keep up with Houston’s pace.

The guests took over the control in the late part of the opening sequence, making an 8-0 run which pulled them away to 32-22 to end that period.

Lakers were behind until the middle of the fourth quarter when they finally caught the guests, and with Josh Hart’s two-pointer seized the lead, 96-95 with 6:52 to go.

The key for their comeback was slowing down James Harden, who did reach his 30 points, to extend the unbelievable streak, but failed to perform when needed.

In the decisive moments of the match, Harden had a couple of turnovers and misses. He even had three offensive charges.

James spoke about that also, saying that his team did an amazing job against one of the best attackers in the league, and that they managed to “make it tough on him.”

“Like I said, it is going to be hard to stop a guy who’s been averaging 100 points, so you just trying to make it tough on him, make him take some tough shots, put multiple bodies in front of him, and I think we did that.”

LeBron draws a charge on James Harden in crunch time of a 6-point game to foul him out. pic.twitter.com/LrhV6Gy7P3

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 22, 2019

Harden was 2 of 10 from behind the three-point line and had 8 turnovers, which pretty much tells you that he experienced a huge pressure throughout the contest.

In general the purple and gold played excellent defense in the last period, holding the guests to only 16 points. Houston’s downtown artilery was stopped, and when you combine that with good defense on Harden, a victory is inevitable.

Chris Paul tried to step up. The veteran playmaker was just one assist shy of reaching a triple-double, scoring 23 points, with 10 boards and 9 dimes.

Lakers’ youngsters Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma also played very well. In certain aspects of the game, Ingram was much better than James.

The 21-year old ended the night with 27 points and 13 boards, missing only three free-throws from 14 he had. Ingram was constantly attacking the rim, forcing Rockets’ players to commit fouls and send other players to the line as well.

Kuzma scored 18, and contributed with 6 rebounds and 5 assists.

James was mentioning that the whole team played a lot better than before and that they have a “fresh start” now.

“We got a fresh start for us…the trade deadline is over with, and this is our squad. I’m happy with who we got, I love our squad and look forward to seeing how we continue the battle until the rest of the season.”

LEBR💥N JAMES!

(via @NBA)pic.twitter.com/h4EI37fKw8

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) February 22, 2019

Lakers are now facing the New Orleans Pelicans, down in the Big Easy. It will be interesting to see Anthony Davis playing against the team because of which he requested a trade. That is what everybody thinks, and we are just saying it out loud.

After LeBron’s open call to Davis, problems started among the Pelicans, and that is why probably New Orleans refused to accept a trade offer of the purple and gold during this tread deadline.

After that, Lakers go to Memphis, and come back home to meet the Pelicans once again. All that will be followed with a clash against the top seed in the East, the Milwaukee Bucks.

Right now, James and the crew are 10th in the West with 29 wins and losses each, 2.5 games behind the Clippers, who hold the 8th place, last one which leads to the playoffs.