LeBron James finished the game against the Rockets with a triple double (18 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists) in just 29 minutes of play. The Lakers won comfortably 134-109.
The four-time NBA champion tied Mavericks’ head coach Jason Kidd on for 4th in all-time triple doubles with 107.
Lakers head coach Darvin Ham says that the depth of the team allows for James to save himself more because he doesn’t have to score on every play.
“I think just when you have guys that are able to take over certain segments of the game it allows him to save some of his bullets so to speak, to save his energy” Ham said postgame.
“Not that he’s not playing hard but we’re not depending on him for every single thing. He can just sit back, play the game the right way as he always does, pick apart the defense whether it’s a rebound, whether it’s a pass or a hockey assist, the pass to set up the scoring pass, the reads.
“I just think everybody that we’ve acquired, again, the high IQ that’s in that locker room, the pieces that fit so perfectly around Bron and A. You’re seeing that. He had a triple double tonight and it was like effortless. Not forcing anything, not having to play him a crazy ton of minutes.
“It’s a testament to how deep we are now and different guys being able to step up from Rui [Hachimura] to Austin [Reaves], to Malik [Beasley]. Having those guys outside of A and Bron to be able to step up and take control.
“Those two guys, they are captains, they are big dogs but they’re encouraging these guys to aggressive and to make plays as well. Everybody’s sharing a load.”
