LeBron James knows how difficult it is to stop Jalen Brunson…
Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James made sure to give New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson his flowers after their intense battle on Saturday.
The Lakers escaped with the 113-105 win over the Knicks, though it wasn’t easy with Brunson making life hard for the Purple and Gold. Even without OG Anunoby and Julius Randle, the ‘Bockers were able to stay in the game against the LeBron and Anthony Davis-led squad thanks to their All-Star scorer.
Brunson tallied 36 points, six rebounds and 10 assists, finishing as the only 30-point scorer in the game. Meanwhile, James had 24 points, five boards and five dimes to lead the way for the Lakers, with Anthony Davis chipping in 12 points, 18 rebounds and five assists.
In his postgame interview, James praised Brunson and emphasized that the Knicks star is playing beyond just an All-Star player. The Lakers forward went to detail how difficult it was to slow down Brunson.
“Jalen is playing at more than an All-Star level this year. We know he’s the head of the snake but we’re just trying to wear him down throughout the fourth quarter and get rebounds,” James shared, via New York Basketball.
“He can beat you–we’ve seen that in the fourth quarter this year in a lot of the Knicks games where he’s erupted in the fourth quarter. So try to keep multiple bodies, keep changing the defense, don’t show him the same pitch. I think that helped out a lot.”
It was definitely a huge challenge for the Lakers to stop Jalen Brunson. Fortunately for them, they had more than enough depth to counter the undermanned Knicks. It would have probably been a different story had New York been with their other two stars in Randle and Anunoby, but LeBron James and Co. will take the win any day.
As for Brunson, it’s certainly great to see him finally getting the credit he deserves. He should have been an All-Star in the past season, but he left no doubt this campaign that he should be one. As James himself said, Brunson is playing more than just an All-Star and that speaks volumes of the rise he has gone through.
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