But this victory was a team effort. LeBron James’ statistics were modest: 17 points on 7 of 13 shooting, six rebounds, five assists, two steals and five turnovers. But with about a minute left, he made one of the biggest plays of the game by going for a defensive rebound and diving to the ground to retrieve it.
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It resulted in a jump between him and Jamal Murray. While James missed the jumper, teammate Marcus Smart had a steal and fastbreak layup moments later to put the Lakers ahead.
After Los Angeles’ 127-125 overtime win, coach JJ Redick seemed to joke a bit that he’d never seen James legitimately dive for a loose ball before.“I told him after the game. I told him that in 23 years of watching you play in the NBA and the three years I watched you play in high school, I never saw you do a full extension jump like that and he said, ‘You’re right. I’ve never done that.’ It’s amazing. I know he’ll feel that tomorrow. That’s a winning play.”
Lately, James has done a good job of taking a step back and accepting the reality that being the Lakers’ third scoring option is best for them. On the season, he is averaging 21.3 points on 50.5% shooting, 5.7 rebounds and seven assists per game.
He hasn’t reached the 30-point mark since Jan. 13 and is averaging a career-low 15.8 field goal attempts per game. But given the mileage he has and how well Doncic and Reaves are playing, James clearly needs to play a different role than the one he’s had his entire basketball career, and it appears he’s finding his niche within that changed role.
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This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: JJ Redick on LeBron James diving for a loose ball in crunch time