LeBron James ‘turns it up,’ scores 37 in win over Brooks, Rockets

LOS ANGELES — The night before, LeBron James scored a season-high 37 points – including the free throw with 1.9 seconds left – while spending 40 minutes to lead the Lakers past the Houston Rockets 105 -104 Sunday, he had something to get off his chest.

It was a rare night off for the 38-year-old, with his team in the middle of a six-game-in-nine-day stretch, and he took a break from playing Madden NFL 24 to post about his Instagram story.

He shared a graphic showing how his 35 points against the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday was the 108th time he surpassed the 30-point plateau since signing with Los Angeles as a free agent in 2018.

“But I just came here to make films!” James wrote, referring to the derision he received when he left Cleveland. “Isn’t that what you said, right!?!?”

Why did he choose this moment to respond to the criticism?

“Because sometimes you have to remind people,” James said Sunday after the win over the Rockets.

He reminded his teammates that he could still get up in the air, ending a drive with a thunderous dunk midway through the fourth that put Los Angeles up by seven and caused Houston to call a timeout.

“They joke about me that I put the ball down too much when I have an open lane,” James said with a smirk. “So I’m also trying to change that narrative.”

He reminded armchair coaches who wondered why he would switch to an open Cam Reddish with the game on the line earlier in the season that he would continue to find the open man in critical moments, as he did in setting up Austin Reaves for a go-ahead 3-pointer with 24.2 seconds left to give Los Angeles a 103-100 lead.

He reminded the Rockets’ Dillon Brooks, who has become one of his willing agitators in recent seasons, to shake the cage at his own risk, as James scored 13 of his points in the fourth quarter on 5-of-6 shooting.

“It’s competition,” James said of Brooks, who, in the third quarter, caused a technical foul on James by crowding his space and causing an elbow and, in the fourth, induced James to make a “too small” gesture. after scoring on him in the paint. “These young guys, they keep me going. So, I need that.”

And James is reminded why he continues to want to play in the NBA, with his financial future and professional achievements already secured.

“I’m just trying to push the limits,” he said. “See how far I can take this thing. I don’t know. I mean, it’s me against Father Time.”

James now has 109 games with 30 or more points as a Laker, passing Lakers legend Kobe Bryant on another historic list. James is up to 237 career games with 35 or more points, eclipsing Bryant’s 236, for third all-time, behind only Wilt Chamberlain (381) and Michael Jordan (333).

James did so by shooting 14 of 19 from the field (73.7%), as he continued what would be the most efficient season he has ever played if he continues this momentum. James is now shooting 58.6% overall for the season through 13 games, which is better than his career-best year with the Miami Heat in 2013-14, when he shot 56.7%. His 39.7% from 3 also isn’t far off the career-high 40.6% he had with Miami in 2012-13.

“I’ve been able to be on the field a lot more on off days this year because of past foot injuries over the last couple of years or whatever,” James told ESPN. “So being able to focus on everything I need to do instead of having to get up, unless we’re playing games, has kept me in the groove.

“I got my bounce back, my bounce back, my quick step back and things of that nature.”

“The thing about Bron is that I’ve never really seen him in a bad mood. He always has energy. He’s the oldest player in the NBA, but he still acts like he has 20 years every day.”

Lakers keep Austin Reaves

It also seems that he has regained his mind. After finishing his 20th season by being eliminated from the playoffs by the Denver Nuggets and openly considering retirement, followed by a summer in which his oldest son, Bronny James, suffered a cardiac arrest, his joy for the game has been unmistakable this season. .

“The thing about Bron,” Reaves said, “I’ve never really seen him in a bad mood. He always has energy. He’s the oldest player in the NBA, but he always acts like he’s he was 20 every day.”

He did it Sunday with Bronny in the building a few hours after the USC freshman was able to participate in his team’s pregame warmups for the first time this season.

“I looked over at one point and saw Bronny sitting courtside, too, and I was like, ‘OK, I need to turn the volume up a little bit more,'” James said.

Turn up the volume and go back in time.

“He was outstanding,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said. “The LeBron we all knew and loved over these 21 years.”