LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Lakers have won four straight games. The team headed into their four-game homestand with having lost two games in a row in disappointing fashion but were able to bounce back with a vengeance these past four games led by LeBron James.
On Wednesday night, the Lakers played host to the San Antonio Spurs who got the best of LeBron and company twice already this season both at home and at the AT&T Center. It seemed as though Gregg Popovich’s squad had their number, but that wasn’t the case at the Staples Center on a rainy night in Los Angeles.
LeBron put on a show in the fourth quarter finishing off the Spurs by dropping 20 of his 42 points and hearing loud MVP chants while at the charity stripe as he secured the team’s 15th victory of the season. Head coach Luke Walton talked about James and where he thinks his superstar is in the MVP race at this point in the season.
“Well, obviously, he’s in that top group,” Walton said of LeBron’s MVP candidacy. “It’s just early. We count on him to do a lot of for us, and a lot of responsibility comes with the type of player he is. I’ve been very impressed with how he handles it and continues to work and make winning the ultimate thing.
“For somebody of his talent, who has won as much as he has, to have winning still be the ultimate prize for him, it really speaks to him and who he is and the way that he works and preps and carries himself. But as for where he is right now, it’s too early to say, but he is absolutely having that type of season.”
After Brandon Ingram had gone down with an ankle sprain in the first half and foul trouble became a problem for some of the critical members of the team, the Lakers struggled to keep up with Rudy Gay and DeMar DeRozan who both finished with 30-plus points apiece.
Although Gay and DeRozan were giving the Lakers fits, San Antonio had absolutely no answer for LeBron who completely took control in the final quarter. James has scored 40 or more points three times this season with each one of those games resulting in a win for the purple and gold.
As for the MVP race, there’s a lot of basketball left to be played. LeBron is making a case for the regular-season award, but he’s got some competition with Giannis Antetokounmpo’s eyes set on taking James’ throne as the best player in the league.
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