Image Credits - NBA
After a terrible start to their 2022-23 campaign, LeBron James and his Los Angeles Lakers are climbing places in the Western Conference. On one hand where many speculated the purple and gold franchise to throw the kitchen sink in revamping the team, they have gone onto change their strategies surrounding the same set of players.
In their latest matchup, Lakers locked horns against the third-seeded Denver Nuggets, who were on an exceptional 3-game winning streak. Up until the halftime, Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray led side were up by a point just when Anthony Davis’ foot injury ruled him out of the context. With a loss looking inevitable, Darvin Ham turned his attention towards his young stars – Max Christie and Thomas Bryant.
While LeBron James came up big against the Nuggets with game-high 30 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists. Max Christie and Thomas Bryant, who scored 21 points (second-high points after LeBron for Lakers), made some clutch buckets for their team to come out on top with a 126-108 win at home.
With Anthony Davis gone, the Lakers had no threat to push Nikola Jokic near the rim, allowing more freedom to the rest of the squad to shoot. In just 24 minutes of game-action, Bryant not only had 21 points but also registered 6 vital rebounds. On the other hand, Christie knocked couple of clutch 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to put the game beyond Denver’s reach.
The 37-year-old said in his post-game interview, “I loved our effort tonight, game ball goes to Thomas Bryant and also rookie Max Christie coming in and give us gigantic minutes especially in AD’s absence in the second half.”
Coach Darvin Ham had no clear picture about Anthony Davis’ foot injury and was determined to make a firm statement only when the tests are run tomorrow. Will the Lakers be able to build upon their upward trajectory against the Washington Wizards in their next contest? Remains to be seen.