L.A. put it all together for a victory over the Denver Nuggets on Sunday.
Your Los Angeles Lakers broke through with their first win of the 2022-23 season, during a Sunday home matchup against reigning league MVP Nikola Jokic and the rest of the visiting Denver Nuggets.
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Star forwards LeBron James and Anthony Davis led the way for L.A., and guards Lonnie Walker IV and Russell Westbrook each chipped in 18 points apiece. Westbrook in particular looked more engaged that he had all year, helping run the team’s offense in a standout bench performance.
James, 37 and showing no signs of slowing down on offense, scored a team-most 26 points on 10-of-22 shooting from the field, dished out eight assists and pulled down six rebounds.
He spoke with gathered reporters in a postgame presser to discuss how L.A. managed to nab the win.
James talked about how the team performed to nab its first victory, at Crypto.com Arena, this season:
“We haven’t played particularly well at home to start the season… I thought tonight for 48 minutes, for the majority of [those] 48 minutes we were really good. Once again, defensively, we were locked in, and our offense caught up with us tonight. And it showed in the victory… We gave ourselves some really good looks because we shared the ball, and tonight they went in for us. We trusted it. Guys were penetrating, guys were kicking out, guys were stepping into their shots. Just trust the work you put in.”
The Chosen One discussed $47.1 million teammate Russell Westbrook’s second straight strong performance as the Lakers’ new sixth man:
“Throughout Russ’s career at some point he’s had to run a team. And it’s a luxury for our ball club for, [in the] minutes when myself and AD are not in the game and he can run a unit. Tonight he’s just looked more and more comfortable in the role that he’s been implemented in, and we needed all 32 sensational minutes that he had. So, he’s big-time.”
Can Los Angeles keep up the good vibes tomorrow, against the New Orleans Pelicans? We shall see.
