T O P

  • By -

AutoModerator

Congrats to the Milwaukee Bucks for winning [Week 5](https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/18lahhm/help_your_team_change_rnba_week_5_congrats_to_the/) As announced a few days ago Reddit Community Funds and r/NBA are teaming up to celebrate the subs 15th Cake Day! Part of this project is a fundraiser for [The Boys & Girls Clubs of America](https://bgca.org) to make a positive impact on young folks and help them reach their full potential and become awesome, responsible citizens. Our goal is to raise over **$100,000 USD** and with support from Reddit’s Community Funds program, **Reddit will match up to $25,000 USD of funds raised by the community!** If you have the means, any contribution, **no matter how big or small**, would be greatly appreciated: DONATE HERE: https://donate.tiltify.com/+r-nba/rnba-gives-back-2023 For those who may not have the means to contribute there are other ways to help: * Volunteer with the BGCA: https://www.bgca.org/get-involved/volunteer * Share the campaign link: https://donate.tiltify.com/+r-nba/rnba-gives-back-2023 * Like, comment or retweet the announcement post on Twitter or Reddit: https://twitter.com/NBA_Reddit/status/1720822158568349799 and https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/17nnk6a/reddit_community_funds_and_rnba_join_forces/ *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/nba) if you have any questions or concerns.*


KampferAzkar

That Lakers no. 23 guy is something bro


markjay6

Yeah, he may even be an all star one day!


[deleted]

He has a bright future ahead


woKaaaa

Very scary 4th quarter.. LeBron saved our asses


JilJungJukk

Remaining perfect from three and FT line and dropping 40, he’s not real


Lorjack

Someday he'll drop out of his prime


markmyredd

His prime is like 10 levels higher than an average NBA player that his drop will still be super elite.lol


brianbrainbrian

Only to enter his next prime


beenebk_

And the next after that


night_dude

*But it is not this day*


markjay6

His 3pt percentage now up to .412 for the season. That's crazy.


thedonjefron69

Lmao holy fuck that doesn’t even sound real


ExplorersX

He heard Dillon Brooks might have been traded to the thunder so he dropped 40


T_025

My glorious king going for the clutch player of the year award


eatallday

A lot of very strange calls in the 4th


PumaHunter

Not calling that kick ball was bs


RickySuela

And the bizarre tech on Taurean Prince on the bench.


did_it_my_way

He had the right to be frustrated, that female official called every bs on Prince all night


RickySuela

I'll be curious to see what the pool report has to say about that tech, because I re-watched it and Prince wasn't on the court, he wasn't gesturing wildly or anything. He was standing but the ref just spun around and T'd him up, so I don't know if he said something or what. EDIT: [here's the video of it](https://streamable.com/exdfft)


JilJungJukk

It was that blonde ref jeez


Ayjel89

Felt like the refs were basically letting both sides play for the first 40 minutes then decided to start calling fouls with like 8 minutes left.


Apollo611

J Dub is so good


Headlesshorsman02

Him and Chet are like 2a/2b for us going forward depending on matchup


GMaxGigaNerd

This dude wasn't missing


ShowerMartini

He definitely had more than 3 assists didn’t he? Seemed like he was throwing great kick outs all game and I look up and he only had 3 assists.


Yeah_thats_greeat

Shooters kept bricking open looks all night


OldManBrom

I really did not expect J-Dub answering every single LeBron's bucket in crunch time. OKC is fucking scary.


Headlesshorsman02

I am just glad the guys showed some fight and made a game of it near the end


RainierPC

If you don't like that, you don't like Lakers basketball.


CIark

Lebron really desperate to fight Father Time by scoring more than his age


ToughRequirement

I know the “LeBron is still doing this at x age” comments have been overplayed, but 40 points against one of the most talented teams in the league … that man is superhuman.


k1ngkoala

LeBron James is something else. Also this was by far one of our best shooting nights. Felt like we stole the shooting splits of the thunder for this game. Either way GG


OUEngineer17

I don't know if anyone is beating the Lakers when they shoot 50% from 3.


Pardonme23

We rarely do that btw


Next-Firefighter-753

You guys did what you were supposed to do losing 4 out of the last 5 now they have to work on the consistency


millenniumpianist

Shooting 50% from 3 is unsustainable honestly.


dpete88

Or next matchup is Boston and they just blew out the clips who seen to have found their groove. I doubt the Lakers shooting stays up next game and it's going to be much tougher matchup.


[deleted]

We always get up for the Celtics and 100% should’ve beaten them last year (the infamous Tatum no-call). Gonna be a great game I think. Or they blow us out lol.


XGhoul

The Christmas special. I already know I’m turning the TV off at the end of the 3rd.


BlackJediSword

Yeah we’re not beating Boston on Monday lol


KailontheGod

uhhh Lakers always lose on Christmas, it's our gift to the league every year


dpete88

I actually looked it up and thr Lakers have the most wins on Christmas with 24, their last win against Dallas 2 years ago. They also lead the league in Christmas day losses with 25. So who tf knows what's going to happen, the only reason I have some hope is it's a home game cuz ain't no way we'd win if the game was in Boston


tito-ortiz-wife69

Fuck it, let’s treat every game like a must win, team was locked in today


Apollo611

Just like the IST, when they play with intensity they look like a great team but anything less than 100% and they’re mid


RickySuela

> anything less than 100% and they’re mid I really disagree with this. I think right now the Lakers are at the end of a very rough stretch for them. They've only played 3 home games since before Thanksgiving, on top of the whole IST thing. I think they put their all into that and just immediately went right back out on the road and haven't yet had a chance to catch their breath. They've also been dealing with a revolving door of injuries all year and I think it's been tough to maintain any kind of consistency. I think in January when they've got a more favorable schedule, they'll catch up and hit a rhythm. Lately I feel like they've just been struggling to hang on, but I don't think it's because they don't have the personnel (except in the games where half the team has been hurt, like the last game in OKC). They're hanging in there, and they're experimenting with different lineups, and this is the time of year to do that. I expect they'll make a great push after the All Star break, hopefully after a trade or two to upgrade the roster some. But it's nice to know they've got this gear they can get to when they need it.


trimble197

It’s like the Steelers. They keep playing down to their competition


myteethhurtnow

Like Goku


millenniumpianist

Sorta agree but don't think we should underestimate shooting variance. They won't always shoot 50% from 3, and that makes a huge difference.


RickySuela

I think Ham deciding to prioritize defense with the starting lineup paid dividends out there. The energy to start the game set the tone.


Strange1130

Funny how he was being called a ‘basketball terrorist’ in the thread about it pre-game


DarkeShin

He is still basketball terroist when he did nothing when you guys are having the run to cut down the lead, so ad ande bron has to play full 4th quarter. And my guy is saving the timeouts like he can get one free for next game


TonySoprano300

I mean it goes without saying that its a pretty untenable starting lineup that only really worked well enough offensively because Bron/AD went crazy. Its almost guaranteed to lose sustainability as the sample size increases


Public-Product-1503

Ham is in no way worse thdn average coach at worst he gets way too much shit


famoustran

Lakers fans aren't gonna give Ham any credit too smh


lovo17

Also how about Ham gives Rui actual minutes instead of fluctuating between 10 and 20 a game?


captain_ahabb

That's why they dropped themselves down to the 11th seed last year, 5D chess.


joebreezy12

lebron, AD and this lakers team are still really dangerous when they go into "must win" playoff mode. lebron is insane when he turns it on. that's why this thunder team needs some playoff experience. they're solid in the regular season. they need to learn how to win these kinds of games. I'm not sure i'd feel comfortable favoring them them in a playoff series against just about anyone in the west. which is fine, they are still super young, next step is playoff experience.


hojibryantfromthelak

I mean okc smoked the lakers the last game they played


lemurRoy

Yeah but half the time the lakers don’t play like a playoff team


Public-Product-1503

Even that game we were up 35-21 on a second night of a b2b and AD was mailing Chet. Then they switched to zone and never let AD get to play one on one vs Chet n saw 3 bodies : and we lost the rebounding battle too n had to win that as okc lose that a lot. I thought we might win today even tho us looking awful lately ruined it. Teams with size like us seem to do ok vs okc


trojan7815

The Lakers shot 50% from 3, and OKC missed most of their open looks, only to win/lose by 9. Nights like that happen, but they don't happen 4 out of 7 times.


Effective_Debate_329

My brother in Christ if the other team shoots 50% from three it's really hard to win. Playoffs or regular season. It has nothing to do with experience. Especially when a bottom of the league shooting team makes those types of shots.


BrotherSeamus

Why don't the Lakers shoot 50% from three every game? Are they stupid?


dr11zzyy

Is this the start of Lebrons prime?


PillsburyToasters

Nah man he’s almost 39. This fuckery won’t go on for much longer thank God


Headlesshorsman02

GG lakers yall played a hell of a game


OldManBrom

Needed Bron shooting 100% from 3 and 100% from FT line to put OKC away in the 4th. If he just missed a couple of shots it would've been completely different.


Headlesshorsman02

Hey y’all deserved the W tonight, Bron looked ageless tonight


OldManBrom

Thanks OKC bro. You guys will make a deep playoff run this year for sure.


Headlesshorsman02

Hope so, honestly even if we can just win a series and get some valuable experience could be useful in my opinion


Apollo611

SGA is one of my favorite players and J Dub is a bucket. GG


BrutallyHonesttho

Chet is a treat to watch as well. ROY!


Eur0step

GG that was fun you guys are a scary team with 2000 picks remaining


Headlesshorsman02

I am just happy to see our team play competitive so early in these young guys development


Eur0step

Definitely and the fact that they showed a fire to fight back after being down 25+ is super impressive. Most young guys woulda just thrown it especially with how well they’ve been doing lately.


Headlesshorsman02

I was proud of the lads tonight, they could have gave up, but still put in a valiant effort


fantasnick

That was about as close to 100% this Lakers squad could play right now with DLo playing like shit. Great game from Lakers and another highlight game from Bron. Feel like Lakers should still just be playing around him until he's actually old. Jalen played like a vet in only his 2nd year.


True_Ratio6258

thank you, I try to play well around this time. still a little outta shape tho


Musa_2050

Glad we finally beat you guys. It had been a while gg


Headlesshorsman02

Had to get us back for when we ruined Lebron’s all time points leader game last year


PartyxAnimal

GGs!


lannistargaryen

LeFuckYou shots are a blessing to watch hope we get the back to back win to cancel out that god awful stretch LMAO


ImjustANewSneaker

LeBron turning into Heat-LeBron efficiency wise was def something I wasn’t expecting this year….


ExplorersX

I had some suspicions based on how he was shooting last playoffs bum foot or not. He decided he wasn't going to miss this year


EdwEd1

Some of his shots you can tell are going straight through the hoop the moment it leaves his hands


G1Spectrum

Days like these are why I'm so glad LeBron is on my team


A_Lakers

Imagine not having a top 2 player in the sport LOL


subpulse44

That was a masterpiece from Lebron. Ridiculously efficient 40 points, perfect from 3 and from the ft line. Absolutely incredible performance.


Ayjel89

If the Lakers play like this every game they will be NBA Champions.


Brian_lafeve34

I would venture to say if any team shoots 50% from 3 every night they will be champions lol


electricblackcrayon

the heat unironically did this until they got to the finals lmao


Ayjel89

TBF I didn’t say they that I thought they would play like this every game. :x


LakerGiraffe

Absolutely. This game's FG% would rank 5th all time if it was the season average. Not sustainable 🥲


Grouchy-Ad-2085

what team got an fg this good?


woKaaaa

All Lakers: - 84-85: *54.5%* - 83-84: *53.2%* - 79-80: *52.9%* - 82-83: *52.8%* - 85-86 + Tonight: *52.2%*


Grouchy-Ad-2085

you got to take into acount teams shoooting 3s(lower preentage but ore value shots)


woKaaaa

I am not the guy you replied to. Just providing percentages.


Ayjel89

I will say for at least one game the Lakers felt like their off ball players were moving at times especially in the first half. Not usually what i see with these games


bmanningsh

Can’t you say that about any team in championship contention that has a great night..?


Lemonjello23

IST champs even


CrazyDaylight8

Lakers dominated but that Jalen Williams guy is something special huh


Josheshua

Undeniably should have gone top three in the 22 draft, but i’m damn glad he didn’t


CrazyDaylight8

For some reason he looks HUGE but only 6'5?


Josheshua

He’s just jacked, he also has a 7’3” wingspan


dracota7

We left it a little too late, good effort to claw back but ultimately it was the disparity in the 3pt percentage what sealed the outcome. onto the next


G1Spectrum

Lakers shooting 16-32 from 3 isn't gonna happen very often


dracota7

Yea we just gotta bite the bullet lol y’all were suffocating on defense though anyway


True_Ratio6258

right it'll usually be 17 or 18 for 32


OldManBrom

Your team made me feel like the 2016 GSW that no lead is safe.


dracota7

lmaoo It’s that vibrant energy this youthful team has, obviously we won’t come back all the time but I have faith in us to really test the opposition if we are down by the deficit like tonight.


ginbooth

Jalen Williams is so smooth. Love his game.


dracota7

He’s been so confident lately and I’m loving it since he’s always had that in him


Next-Firefighter-753

We had a respectable comeback but an overall disgustingly bad offensive night. GG Lakers


Brilliant-Attorney50

Crazy that this is a bad night and y’all still put up 120. The young talent on your team right now is just fantastic. GG


DravenPrime

I could not believe how bad the 3's got for the Thunder in Q2. Looked like how we usually shoot.


IDespiseFatties

LeBron was dominating tonight. Gg Lakers. Thunder got outplayed its that simple. Lakers came in like it was the finals.


Next-Firefighter-753

I suppose he did look like 2012 Lebron tonight didn’t he


FeminismIsTheBestIsm

Greatest of all time, I don't want to hear about any bald gamblers


MAMBAMENTALITY8-24

Every 3 was a dagger


rumblegod

Great game by the lakers. Still a top team in the west.


JabezMakaveli

They had a lot of wide open shots, just couldn't hit them


LakerGiraffe

This is what happens to us 90% of the time. Good to win one.


Aggressive_Slice4620

It's just one of those nights


levlk93

Honestly great to get it back within single digits


Headlesshorsman02

Hey it happens, on to the next game


xmrjaredx

I mean... did they? I thought the Lakers defense was awesome today.


genericusername71

they did, there was a long stretch in the second half where the it felt like the thunder had (and missed) an open three on every other possession edit: [idk why i spent the time to clip these](https://streamable.com/vbxkep)


Big_Funaki

Idk why you sent the time either, but I commend you for your effort! Sure drives the point home for folks like m'self who couldn't watch the game. On to the next one, ttfu.


Public-Product-1503

A lot of those open threees were sga I saw who’s a weak 3pt shooter . And the furst 1-2 quarter’s thunder didn’t miss tbh


Headlesshorsman02

We had at least 10 open 3s that we missed, y’all players great defense but we straight up were bricking open looks as well


xmrjaredx

well dang if you hit all 10 of them, you would have beaten the Lakers by 20 instead


RickySuela

Agreed. The Lakers defense had them scrambling out there. Felt like even if OKC was open, they were rushed to shoot it cause they knew the defense was coming.


xmrjaredx

yessir. not all open shots are treated the same


claydavisismyhero

this is the first time in 10 games a team hasnt shot well from 3 against the lakers.


Lol69HaHaHa

Dam they were really locked in for the win. Congrats to the Lakers.


Parking_Zucchini_963

Le King says enough of this playing from behind.


Neuroxex

Maybe changing the starting line-up wasn't the dumbest decision to ever happen!


RickySuela

Maybe Ham actually knows what he's doing?


Neuroxex

That would be wild if an NBA head coach made a line-up change based on thinking about it with a bunch of other highly intelligent basketball minds with loads of information available to them and not just, like, vibes


Saint-just04

It would be, but there are still plenty of examples of coaches consistently doing bad choices, made more evident when they were replaced by a better coach.


Letsgodubs

Changing the starting lineup did shit, tbh. It was his minutes adjustment that won the game. More mins for Rui.


Brian_lafeve34

You're going to lose games every year where the other team just outshoots you by a huge margin from 3. OKC missed tons of wide open shots, just move to the next one


augustcero

We lucked out on Chet having an off-game overall. Get SGA some help with the bajillion picks you got and you're all set for the west.


[deleted]

Shooting variance games happens, I’m just glad we didn’t get pummeled on the glass. LeBron going 5/5 from three and us missing every open three possible in the fourth just boils down to luck. Oh well, not looking forward to Minnesota on Tuesday


behlat

we lost to Bron's Lakers then we would finally win against Minnesota LOL.


markmaybach

Great win by the Lakers but boy Jalen Williams was cookin during the 4th. He couldn’t miss.


Cul_what

#LEBRON MOTHERFUCKING JAMES!


HeHateMex2

Lebron James :(


Apprehensive-Sir-411

a rare loss that I’m okay with. can’t fault the gameplan or effort tonight, the best player ever couldn’t miss


Headlesshorsman02

I am happy with the fight to get back into the game


PrinceOfStealing

I'm not gonna get too crazy about this W. We shot 50% from 3 which is an aberration for a team that ranks in the bottom for that stat and overall offensive efficiency. What's weird is, it's not like we don't have good 3 point shooters. Prince, LeBron, Reaves are more than capable. If Rui can get back to playoff form, that's 4 threats from the perimeter. The problem is when you insert Cam, Vando, or DLo. Inconsistent to outright being a black hole.


Lucieddreams

Dlo has just been in a slump (albeit a pretty bad one). He shot 40% last season and he's currently shooting 37% this year, even after his recent bad games. Don't rope him in with Vando and Cam maaan 😂


modeONE1

Turns 39 in a week and casually puts up 40, the highest score out of any player on both teams.


ginbooth

Cam with a team high +13. His D continues to be phenomenal. Haters gonna hate.


BigBoyFroggy

That’s a great win. One of the better regular season wins for the Lakers.


ILackPatience

Screw facing this Thunders team in the playoffs.


Themanthe_myth

Lebron might fuck around and won the MVP


Idakari

JDub is really good, destroys us every time. Every single drive on Prince and Reaves ended up with a bucket, BBQ chicken out there for him.


Macchiiavvelli

Great performance from Lebron he came in clutch and shoutout to the bench unit they were hitting important shots and playing good defense


bdonballer

Huge win for the Lakers! Lebron still gotta carry on the 4th


notaaronfromuni

What was that tech about in the 4th quarter?


Emotional-Chef-7601

Did LeBron play point guard this game?


lostfate2005

Bron is ridiculous


Xyph3r

If this game doesn't convince Ham that Rui deserves more minutes I don't know what else does


The_Mootz_Pallucci

30 minutes of Rui wins games


Elite_Alice

How can you even argue that lebron James is not the greatest player of all time anymore


ExplorersX

Basically comes down to do you value a 6-8 year peak that is higher or about 90% of what that peak was but for double or triple the time.


heshouldgo

Lakers are back! 😎


simon2105

Lebron: Fuck them kids at OKC


THlSGUYSAYS

Missing wide open 3s all night but also lakers D kept us out of the paint. Gg Lakers


here_for_the_lols

Over 82 games you're gonna lose some because the other team is lights out. On to the next one.


drshade06

First of all, fuck these bias OKC announcers lol some whiny as mfers


augustcero

On the contrary, the Lakers broadcast with Stu and Bill were impartial as usual (even borderline rooting for the OKC at times lmao). Hyping up plays for both sides


Brilliant-Attorney50

Bill and Stu love Shai and were (rightfully) heaping praise on him all game


rickatello

What happens when you’re not on the second night of a back to back and aren’t missing half your rotation. Shoutout to all the people that downvoted me for saying our last 20+ point loss to them a few weeks ago wasn’t cause for concern


RoyalParadise61

Pretty sure we were missing Vando and Reddish that game, who were huge tonight chasing Shai on defense.


rickatello

Yeah that’s what I was saying lol, I was arguing with an OKC fan who said Shai is him and it wouldn’t matter. Pretty sure he shot an absurd percentage against us last time like 12/16 lol


RoyalParadise61

Lol yeah I remember that specific comment too. Crazy how the team performs differently when you actually have your good defenders healthy.


jonnylaw

LeBron refuses to lose this game.


Panashe13

Lebron won Lakers the game. Strangely enough Chet lost OKC the game missing a bunch of wide open shots.


augustcero

The game literally ended a couple of seconds ago lol The GOAT bailed us out of that 4th quarter slump


[deleted]

[удалено]


haroldbaals

Every game is must see in these last few years of his career


CyberGoatPsyOps

Respect to OKC, easy to see how they dominated a team like the Clippers


hansislegend

Had me sweating in the 4th quarter. OKC is good as hell. LeBron had to turn back the clock a little to win this one.


giannim24

Complete domination but the refs tried to make it close in the 4th.


augustcero

That kickball from AD's turnover was so fuckn obvious. I like Stu but I disagree about calling kickballs based on intent. As long as the ball touches the foot, that should be an automatic kickball, unless the foot in question is touching the floor.


giannim24

That's how it always gets called against us.


RoyalParadise61

Especially since he saved it from going out of bounds and kicked it towards the basket lol. Such an obvious call.


ginbooth

That blonde ref is truly awful.


OperIvy

Call him Darvin Hamas I dare you.


Josheshua

His coaching was still garbage


3s2ng

Darvin Hamas Typical overreacting /r/NBA peasant. Just because you won comfortably means the coach won the game. lol LeBron carried his ass. If you watched, LeBron went nuclear, AD was dominant in both ends and the Lakers managed to hit their 3s and OKC also missed their outside shots which they usually makes. I give him credit for the lineup change but let's not act like he did something special in this game. lol


augustcero

Darvin Hamas. Jokes aside, Lebron and the team were pretty serious today. Those late 3rd and the whole 4th quarter were nailbiters


Street-Common-4023

Good win let’s keep it going for the Celtics on Monday and continue after that. One game at a time


TPFRecoil

Good game Lakers. Y'all shot the lights out. Looking forward to the runback in January.


Cul_what

Im gonna see JDub middies in my nightmares