{"id":522175,"date":"2026-03-14T00:37:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T00:37:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/522175\/"},"modified":"2026-03-14T00:37:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T00:37:09","slug":"lebron-james-adaptability-a-key-in-victory-over-the-bulls","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/522175\/","title":{"rendered":"LeBron James’ adaptability a key in victory over the Bulls"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Almost three hours later, the play was fresh in coach JJ Redick<\/a>\u2019s mind. How the Lakers<\/a> started their win<\/a> over the Chicago Bulls felt like the blueprint for success.<\/p>\n

The Lakers ran a movement set on the opening play Thursday, and using a screen from Deandre Ayton<\/a>, Luka Doncic<\/a> found LeBron James<\/a> in the corner. Ayton rolled toward the basket. James then made the extra pass. Austin Reaves<\/a> splashed a three.<\/p>\n

Working in perfect unison, the Lakers showed every component they spent the season searching for: Doncic powering the offense, Reaves finishing it, Ayton\u2019s motor and, at the center, James\u2019 selflessness.<\/p>\n

With one month left of the regular season, James is prepared to continue sacrificing for the Lakers if it means they can get closer to contending in a crowded Western Conference playoff race.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know what I\u2019m capable of still doing as an individual,\u201d James said after he scored 18 points to go with seven rebounds and seven assists against the Bulls in his first game back from a three-game absence. \u201cBut what\u2019s important for this team, I\u2019m able to adapt to what\u2019s important for this team. And that\u2019s the only thing that matters. And the win is the only thing that matters.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Lakers (41-25) have won seven of their last eight games, climbing from sixth in the West to third before Saturday\u2019s 5:30 p.m. game against Denver (41-26) at Crypto.com<\/a> Arena. The critical conference game will decide the head-to-head tiebreaker between the teams that are separated by half a game in the standings.<\/p>\n

During the week since their last loss to the Nuggets on March 5, the Lakers have reasserted themselves into the postseason conversation despite not having James. He injured his elbow and hip<\/a> late in the Denver loss on a hard fall. But the Lakers didn\u2019t appear to miss the NBA\u2019s all-time leading scorer.<\/p>\n

They started this five-game homestand with three convincing wins without James, including two of their most significant of the season. Consecutive wins over New York and Minnesota, teams with records above .600, made the Lakers look like they were peaking at the right time.<\/p>\n

Fitting James, Reaves and Doncic on the court together this season hasn\u2019t been seamless. The Lakers are 12-7 in games the three play together. They\u2019re 22-9 in games with only Reaves and Doncic.<\/p>\n

Doncic, who scored 51 points Thursday, leads the NBA in scoring at 32.9 points per game and, despite a calf injury that sidelined him for more than a month, Reaves is in the midst of a career season with 23.9 points, 4.8 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game. James, averaging 21.4 points and seven assists, has a career-low usage rate.<\/p>\n

\"Lakers <\/p>\n

Lakers forward LeBron James, top, hangs onto the rim as he dunks the ball over three Bulls defenders.<\/p>\n

(Allen J. Schaben \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

While James was sidelined over the last week, he and Redick further discussed the approach necessary for the team to continue its recent success when he returned.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe understands how important it is for Luka and AR to have time on the ball,\u201d Redick said. \u201cThe realistic thing is that when they\u2019re on the court together, that\u2019s going to take away time on the ball from him.\u201d<\/p>\n

James didn\u2019t take a shot in the first quarter against the Bulls. He didn\u2019t score his first points until 54 seconds left in the second quarter. But he had three assists in the first half before he and Doncic combined for 28 points on 10-of-15 shooting in the third quarter. James was a perfect five for five from the field during the third quarter, then Reaves took over in the fourth, scoring 13 of his 30 points in the final quarter to eclipse 5,000 points for his career.<\/p>\n

The trio was plus-25 together on the court against the Bulls, tied with Doncic, Reaves and Rui Hachimura for the best plus-minus rating of any three-man combination in the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s one of the smartest guys to ever play the game of basketball,\u201d Reaves said of James. \u201cSo his ability to adapt and to figure out what the game needs is second to none. \u2026 When you\u2019ve got a player of that stature who\u2019s willing to play the way the game needs him to play, it just shows how selfless he is.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Lakers needed all of James\u2019 versatility with backup big men Jaxson Hayes (back soreness) and Maxi Kleber (lumber back strain) sidelined. Hayes got imaging on his back Thursday, but Redick did not have the results before the game. Redick expects Kleber to \u201cbe out for a little bit\u201d after a previous back injury flared up again. Guard Marcus Smart, who missed Thursday\u2019s game because of a hip injury that was lingering for several games, could return Saturday, Redick said.<\/p>\n

James recognized he would have to set more screens, be more active on the glass and roll toward the basket more with the shorthanded frontcourt. Smart\u2019s tenacity was a key ingredient to the defensive effort that locked down the Knicks and Timberwolves, and James, revered by coaches and teammates for his defensive communication, stepped up to anchor the defense too.<\/p>\n

He and Doncic each had one block against the Bulls and combined for five of the Lakers\u2019 nine steals.<\/p>\n

\u201cGreatness fits in with anything,\u201d Ayton said. \u201cThat\u2019s LeBron James.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Almost three hours later, the play was fresh in coach JJ Redick\u2019s mind. How the Lakers started their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":522176,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[34212,24796,11654,42236,6405,235467,8304,32363,6306,3013,3014,355,13544,113510,5190,99,1599],"class_list":["post-522175","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-adaptability","tag-assist","tag-austin-reaves","tag-bulls","tag-deandre-ayton","tag-first-game","tag-james","tag-key","tag-lakers","tag-lebron-james","tag-luka-doncic","tag-nba","tag-point","tag-redick","tag-season","tag-sports","tag-team"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=522175"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522175\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/522176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=522175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=522175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=522175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}