After NBA Cup success, Lakers turn focus on regular season
The champagne was flowing after LeBron James and Anthony Davis inspired the Los Angeles Lakers to the first-ever NBA Cup crown, but the celebrations were short-lived with the season’s main goal still ahead.
“We made history,” James said after he and Davis led the Lakers in a dominant 123-109 victory over tournament darlings Indiana in the NBA’s first in-season tournament on Saturday. “Any time you’re on the right side of history, you take it.”Davis spearheaded the Lakers’ charge in the title game, scoring 41 points with 20 rebounds. James added 24 points and 11 rebounds and got the nod as Most Valuable Player of the tournament conceived to lend some excitement to the early stages of the long NBA regular season.
Strong push
James, the league’s all-time leading scorer, said the Lakers’ 7-0 run through the competition that began with all 30 NBA teams drawn into six groups for round-robin play showed Los Angeles has the ingredients to make a strong push in the NBA championship playoffs.
However, he cautioned, it was far too soon to be talking about May and June and the chances of the Lakers adding to their 17 NBA championships—tied with the Boston Celtics for the most ever.
“I think that’s thinking too far down the road,” James, himself owner of four championship rings, said. “We want to put it in perspective that it’s still December … I would take it, but I’m definitely not looking to May and June. There’s too many steps that need to be taken still in order for our team to be who we want to be once the postseason starts.” —AFP
