This is the way: Lakers are at their best when Luka leads, Reaves feasts, and LeBron evolves
LeBron James must read The California Post. On Wednesday, we wrote the blueprint for how the Los Angeles Lakers needed to incorporate LeBron once he returned from injury.The Lakers need the King, they just don’t need his crown. What that means is the Lakers need LeBron on the court to reach their ceiling.
Yes, the team is 10-2 when he doesn’t play, but that doesn’t mean they’re better without him like some talk-radio philosophers dream up scenarios where he comes off the bench.That idea was always absurd.LeBron James doesn’t belong on the bench.But he also doesn’t need to dominate the ball anymore.The best version of the Lakers is when LeBron takes a backseat to Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves. When he’s the third or fourth option on offense, not the first. And on Thursday night at Crypto.com Arena, LeBron followed the blueprint and the puzzle pieces finally clicked into place.The Lakers beat the Chicago Bulls 142–130, but the final score almost felt secondary to the revelation unfolding on the floor.For the last week, the Lakers had been discovering something about themselves while LeBron was sidelined.
They crushed the Knicks.They embarrassed the Timberwolves.
And while that stretch sparked some hysterical overreactions across Los Angeles sports media, it also revealed a truth that couldn’t be ignored.The Lakers have a new engine.His name is Luka Doncic.And on Thursday night, the engine roared.Doncic delivered his first 50-point game as a Laker — a volcanic 51-point masterpiece on 31 shots, drilling nine three-pointers while flirting with a triple-double with 10 rebounds and nine assists.Every possession flowed through him like electricity through copper wire.“He’s been high-volume, high-efficiency for about two and a half months now,” Lakers head coach J.J.
Redick said afterward.“He gives us life.
He was phenomenal all night.He made great reads, he got DA [DeAndre Ayton] going, he had some great sprayout looks for us.
Luka set ...