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A fan-shoving incident involving LeBron James marred the Los Angeles Lakers’ second-straight win against the Western Conference’s No. 2. The Lakers beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 112-105 win on January 15 at home.
An overeager fan approached and touched him while he was sitting on the bench, to everyone’s surprise.
A visibly upset James shoved the fan after he said something to the Lakers superstar. Security escorted the fan away from James and out of the Crypto.com arena.
The 39-year-old superstar delivered 25 points on 12 of 20 shooting with 7 rebounds and 6 assists to help the Lakers to a 20-21 record at the midway point of the season.
The Lakers returned to their starting lineup to start the season with D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves at the backcourt with Taurean Prince flanking James and Anthony Davis in their frontcourt.
Davis led all Lakers scorers with 27 points along with 15 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals and 1 block in another monster performance. Russell and Reaves combined for 29 points on 11 of 22 shooting.
“Offensively we want to share the ball, not turn the ball over, AD’s always our focus offensively, getting him going early and often,” James told reporters after the morale-boosting win following two straight losses. “Then defensively, we have to be on a string to help one another. And we have to help AD rebound. And when we do that, you know, we can be a pretty good five-man lineup.”
Darvin Ham to Stick With Lakers’ Starting 5 Moving Forward
The Lakers’ starting five in the win over the Thunder improved to an even 3-3 record this season.
Lakers coach Darvin Ham plans to stick with his current five best players this season.
“Just wanted to put as much skill and shot-making on the floor around our two captains,” Ham told reporters after the game. “And those five, they’ve been pretty much our most consistent guys throughout the season thus far. So just put them together. For the foreseeable future, that’s going to be our lineup, barring any type of injury.”
The Lakers will face another acid test on Wednesday, January 17, when they host the Dallas Mavericks, who boast of a winning record (11-8) on the road.
Cam Reddish’s Injury Update
Ham’s decision to go back to the starting five he used when the season tipped off was made in part due to Cam Reddish’s injury.
According to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, “Reddish’s sore left knee could sideline him for several more games.”
With Russel and Reaves returning to the starting lineup, Rui Hachimura and Christian Wood came off the bench with 12 and 11 points, respectively for the well-balanced Lakers offense.
But it was their defense that stood out, limiting the Thunder to 41.7% shooting and just 30.6% from deep.
Jarred Vanderbilt only contributed 5 points but he helped limit Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to 24 points on 9 of 19 shooting.
“All three compliment each other,” Ham effusive in his praise of his three key reserves after the game. “All three were huge in us getting this win. C-Wood hit a big three, has some big finishes at the rim, some big blocked shots, [Vanderbilt] his energy, his scrapping — able to switch off and you know [Gilgeous-Alexander] is a tough cover. … Then Rui just giving us that scoring punch off the bench. Their skill sets totally complement one another and complement the starters who we put out there with them.”
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