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LOS ANGELES – LeBron James's mission is to build the confidence of second-year point guard Lonzo Ball, and that seems to be paying off for the Lakers.
"I think Zo sometimes he does not realize how great he is," said James after a 90-83 win over Utah Jazz on Friday. "What he has on the field, when Zo realizes how good he is on the ground, makes him a very dynamic player and makes us even better, and he's been doing it for some time, his aggression."
Ball finished with nine points, 10 rebounds and two assists against the Jazz, but it was his decisions made in the fourth quarter that made the difference: he played every 12 minutes, his only shot on the pitch, two assists and two rebounds, played in active defense and was instrumental in Los Angeles' win over Utah 26-20 in the final frame to close the win.
"Even when he's not involved, just his attack, as you saw earlier in the game, just his chance to reach the edge (is important)," said James about Ball , who scored 4 out of 10 on the field. "He missed a few, that 's absolutely good, he had two or three counts, and when he' s aggressive, it just changes the dynamics of the team, and he 's recently, and we need him to keep doing it. " because he's very good. "
Teammates and coaches push Lonzo Ball to be more aggressive and attack the rim.
Rajon Rondo, Lakers keeper, says he's doing cardio while he's recovering from last week's operation at the right hand.
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LeBron James had 22 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists, and he took control of a lousy match with nine points in the fourth quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers' seventh win in eight games, or 90-83 on the Utah Jazz Friday night.
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ESPN 's Ohm Youngmisuk first indicated that James, along with Lakers coaching staff, had encouraged Ball to take more control of the action in the field after he' s done it. to be beaten twice by Orlando and Miami, scoring two points on 1 shot for 11 in both games.
Ball responded with 15 points, a top in the season, on 7 shots against 11, during a win in Cleveland on Wednesday and in an equally aggressive match against Utah.
"I just play better like that," said Ball, also recognizing that Rajon Rondo had coached him. "… I have an excellent coaching staff, excellent teammates who push me every day, so I do not stop hearing them in my ear, trying to make the good things on the ground. "
Ball helped LA to win its ninth win in its last 11 tries with a left pass at 3:57 in the fourth quarter to give the Lakers a six-goal advantage and a go-ahead for JaVale McGee. with 2:11 left to increase their lead to nine.
"Well, they decided to remove LeBron from the ball screen," Ball explained. "So it leaves me pretty much in the open ground and I can do whatever I want with it, it's difficult, you've made me go down the path where you have JaVale for the lob. to choose one enough. "
If the former # 2 choice has always regained its confidence in him at age 21, he certainly does not miss it to evaluate his acceleration.
"I'm just faster than a lot of people there," he said. "So that I can go to the scene, it's just to finish."
Of course, playing fast can be problematic if a team does not take care of the ball. The Lakers won Friday's win despite a record of 24 turnovers for the season. And their turnover support ratio made the mistakes even more difficult by distributing 10 aids at the bottom of the season.
"It was horrible – Horrible, Horrible, man," James said. "You look at the statistics (it was bad), but offensively we found a way to get behind the game, but we just defended ourselves." The best thing is that we returned We have made a defensive number in the half-court, but we will not win as many games of this kind if you make 24 passes and you only have 10 assists. "
The Lakers have just three assists at half-time – owned by James – and coach Luke Walton raised the issue, adding a motivational measure: telling his team if they managed to win the game. match, he would cancel Saturday's training and give them the results. day off.
As the Lakers earned their free time, Walton made sure to return to the postgame speech.
"It's something we're going to achieve as a team and when we get there, we'll be a much better team," Walton said. "So, even if we win matches, we will not let ourselves be guided by the formation of the good pass and the extra pass and I really believe that we will become this type of team."
Ironically, Walton said that the player who always makes the extra pass, sometimes so much that the team encourages him to keep the ball longer to do something and play, is Ball.
Meaning Ball's journey to discover the greatness James sees in him could very well reflect the fate of this Lakers team's potential.
"He has not (yet) 82 games to his credit," said James about Ball. "So, I think every game is another lesson for him and that the experience will continue to happen more and more and he will know what he's doing extremely well to help us, but especially the "I can see it, but sometimes for you personally, you have to keep on understanding." He has not even registered a full regular season in his books.
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