If he is generally satisfied with Los Angeles' performances since the start of the season, LeBron James has difficulty understanding the true collective level of the Lakers. The quarter-final against the Suns, as part of the NBA tournament, seems to be a perfect test for this.
The Californians are approaching this match with a happy medium: it is not a playoff match, but not a simple regular season match either.
“It’s obviously a big match for this tournament, but it’s also one more match in the season,” explains Anthony Davis for the Los Angeles Times. “Of course we want to go to Las Vegas and win the tournament, but we don't put too much pressure on ourselves for this type of meeting. We are not preparing for the playoffs, however, we are going into more detail. »
A scent of playoffs in December
So it’s a little preparation for the playoffs, in the middle of December. Facing, in addition, a talented opponent, with Kevin Durant and Devin Booker.
“There is a lot at stake for this tournament. I am very impatient. It adds a little spice,” assures Darvin Ham for theOCR. “This is not an ordinary match. It's a high-level game, even without the tournament aspect. The tournament adds a little something, a challenge. This is the closest thing to the playoffs at this point in the season. »
So far, the Lakers have shown a lot of seriousness and desire when it comes to the tournament, with four victories in four matches. Which allows them to play this meeting at home.
“Our intensity was different between the regular season matches and those of the tournament,” confirms Rui Hachimura, even if it must be remembered that the tournament games also counted for the season results. “I'm looking forward to it and I love the feeling of this tournament. We have to win this match and go to Vegas to win it all. »
| Shots | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | L.F. | Off | Def | Early | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Party | Pts |
| LeBron James | 20 | 33.5 | 55.1 | 38.3 | 69.0 | 0.8 | 6.8 | 7.6 | 6.4 | 3.7 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 1.1 | 24.4 |
| Anthony Davis | 20 | 35.1 | 54.6 | 27.3 | 84.0 | 3.3 | 9.2 | 12.5 | 3.3 | 2.1 | 1.1 | 2.8 | 2.9 | 22.9 |
| Angelo Russell | 21 | 30.9 | 48.7 | 40.9 | 78.2 | 0.4 | 3.0 | 3.4 | 6.6 | 1.8 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 2.0 | 17.1 |
| Austin Reaves | 21 | 29.5 | 46.5 | 31.3 | 84.9 | 0.9 | 3.8 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 2.4 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 1.5 | 13.7 |
| Rui Hachimura | 12 | 23.3 | 50.5 | 42.9 | 78.6 | 1.0 | 2.8 | 3.8 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 1.5 | 11.8 |
| Taurean Prince | 19 | 29.9 | 41.6 | 34.1 | 75.0 | 0.3 | 2.1 | 2.4 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 2.3 | 8.7 |
| Cam Reddish | 17 | 23.7 | 42.0 | 31.9 | 82.1 | 0.5 | 2.2 | 2.7 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 1.6 | 7.2 |
| Christian Wood | 21 | 20.2 | 44.3 | 26.9 | 68.9 | 0.9 | 5.0 | 5.9 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 1.8 | 7.0 |
| Gabe Vincent | 4 | 28.4 | 39.3 | 7.1 | 50.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 0.5 | 1.5 | 0.0 | 2.5 | 6.0 |
| Max Christie | 16 | 18.3 | 40.0 | 31.4 | 83.3 | 0.2 | 2.8 | 2.9 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 1.6 | 5.1 |
| Jalen Hood-schifino | 4 | 10.9 | 26.7 | 12.5 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.5 | 3.3 |
| Jaxson Hayes | 18 | 10.9 | 69.7 | 0.0 | 57.1 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 1.6 | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 1.8 | 3.2 |
| Colin Castleton | 3 | 7.5 | 40.0 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 2.0 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.7 | 2.0 |
| From me Hodge | 6 | 5.5 | 25.0 | 20.0 | 50.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 1.5 |
| Alex Fudge | 4 | 3.6 | 16.7 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 1.0 |
| Jared Vanderbilt | 1 | 13.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 4.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0.0 |
| Maxwell Lewis | 10 | 4.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
