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LAS VEGAS – LeBron James welcomed Lonzo Ball, who returned to the game on Wednesday with a perfect lob that Ball made both hands blush on a well-executed go-and-go.
The Los Angeles Lakers had their first glimpse of James and Ball, the second choice of last year, ground, together. They enjoyed what they saw in the past limited minutes during which the Lakers played.
In what would have been James' final rehearsal for the regular season, he starred in a 15-point, 10-rebound, five assists show in Las Vegas and delivered his first drummer as a Laker – 35 feet from the left corner near midcourt at the end of the first half. Although James only played 17 minutes in the first period, the Lakers resisted the defending champion, Golden State Warriors, 123-113.
Stephen Curry scored 23 points and Klay Thompson added 20 points. Kevin Durant had 18 points and 12 rebounds before collapsing with 5 minutes and 7 seconds in the third quarter.
While James appears to be in the mid-season, the Lakers wanted to take a close look at Ball, who had not played since his last rookie season match on March 28. After undergoing surgery on a left meniscus torn in mid-July, The Lakers released Ball.
After Rajon Rondo's departure, Ball played 23 minutes and felt good after. Ball, who looked significantly stronger after spending a good part of the off-season in the weight room and won 15 pounds, hit 3 out of 5 shots and got seven points, four rebounds, four interceptions, two assists and three turnovers.
With former Lakers legends, Magic Johnson and Shaquille O 'Neal, Ball started on a rusty shot, flipping the ball twice and shooting an aerial ball in his first shot attempt behind the 3 points. But he settled down, took his breath and opened the second quarter with the driveway that James had perfectly synchronized as if the two had been playing together for a long time.
The piece, which involves a screen background on the Ball man, is something that the Lakers have often called for Ball, although this is the first time that she has been executed with James throwing the lob.
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Lonzo Ball describes his relationship with LeBron James and his experience playing with LeBron for the first time.
"It does not take much," said James when asked about the play. "It takes a run, it took a good background screen for [Kyle Kuzma on Quinn Cook]. It took Lance [Stephenson] do what he had to do on the slide going to the corner loudly. When you have a sports leader like that, it's my job to put him there so he can pick him up. "
James added, "I think we've all seen [Ball’s athleticism] since he was in high school, I believe. "
While there was a pregame match against Golden State in San Jose, CA on Friday, Lakers coach Luke Walton tried to take a look at as many different formations as possible. Ball played a few minutes with Rondo in the backcourt alongside Brandon Ingram, Kuzma and JaVale McGee. The Lakers could use the two guards on the floor together at certain times this season.
Ingram scoring 26 points and making 15 free throws out of 17, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 20 points and Kuzma added 22, but the Lakers had a glimpse of what they might look like.
The Lakers took a step forward in this process by finally bringing Ball and James on the field in a match.
"When you play with LeBron, you have to keep playing because it's easy to watch, as much as it does," Ball said. "He had a first half of a monster – the best player in the world, that's what he does."
Ball, however, could only watch and admire James shooting hard, which James caught half-way and shot effortlessly.
"I thought it was okay," said Ball. "He set foot in. Obviously, that 's his reach – he fired like it was a free throw." LeBron James. "
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