LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers entered the 2018-19 NBA season with a huge amount of pressure and high expectations. After going through a long rebuilding process, the Lakers were finally viewed as a serious contender once again. Signing the best player in the world signified the end of the rebuild.
Unfortunately for James and the Lakers, the team got off to a slow start. Los Angeles was 0-3 heading into Wednesday night's game against the Phoenix Suns.
Finally, the Lakers were able to get the job done and get their first win of the LeBron era. They were able to defeat the Suns by a final score of 131-113. Los Angeles can finally breathe a sigh of relief that they have their first win of the season.
Following the big win, James talked about how the team was able to buckle down and get their first win of the year. Bob Garcia of Clutch Points took to Twitter to share a couple of quotes from the Lakers' superstar.
LeBron James on first win with Lakers: “It feels great to win period. It feels good to know that we continue to get better. We got better tonight.“
(Via @SpectrumSN)#Lakers #lakeshow— Bob Garcia IV (@bgarciaivsports) October 25, 2018
LeBron James: “We stuck to the game plan as close to 48 minutes as possible.“
(Via @SpectrumSN)#Lakers #lakeshow— Bob Garcia IV (@bgarciaivsports) October 25, 2018
As relieved as James was after the win, the fans in L.A. may very well be more relieved. The excitement at the beginning of the season was nothing like what the Lakers have had since Kobe Bryant retired. James was expected to immediately come in and be the savior.
Despite the rough start to the season, the Lakers are now in the win column and have gotten rid of a lot of the pressure they were dealing with.
James scored 19 points to go along with 10 assists and seven rebounds in the win. Lance Stephenson, who has a long history with James, had a massive performance for the Lakers. He scored 23 points off the bench, while also chipping in eight assists and eight rebounds.
In addition to those two, JaVale McGee scored 20 points and connected on a rare 3-pointer. Josh Hart continued his impressive play with 15 points, while Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 14 off the bench. Kyle Kuzma had another solid game with 17.
Los Angeles will now shift their focus to the second game of a back-to-back against the undefeated Denver Nuggets. James and company will attempt to build some momentum off of their first win.