Rui Hachimura forgot to feed the hot hand in Los Angeles’ Saturday evening victory.
It took another vintage LeBron James performance to preserve the Lakers’ perfect start to the NBA season Saturday evening as the league’s all-time leading scorer finished with a 32-point triple-double that helped Los Angeles erase a seven-point fourth-quarter deficit against Sacramento
James’ evening peaked with a remarkable stretch early in this final period, scoring 16 of the Lakers’ 18 points — he assisted Los Angeles’ only other bucket to Jaxson Hayes — while shooting a perfect 6-6 from the field. However, after James hauled in a defensive rebound to start another Lakers possession with eight minutes remaining, sixth-year forward Rui Hachimura stifled this momentum as a tough two-point try clanked off the rim.
The Lakers would call a timeout 20 seconds later, during which James explicit frustration which Hachimura’s decision was captured on the television broadcast. “Bring that mother—-er to me,” James was overheard saying about Hachimura. “I done make 10 in a row, he wants to do a pull-up, contested 2? Swing swing mother—-er.”
Hachimura quickly atoned for his criticized shot, grabbing an offensive rebound on the following possession where he earned a shooting foul and converted a pair of free throws. It was a rare hiccup in a stellar evening for the Japanese-born star, who finished with 18 points, nine rebounds and three assists, the last two of which went to James during his dominant fourth-quarter tear.James finished Saturday’s game with a 32-point triple-double
James’ run completely transformed the complexion of Saturday’s game, transforming a four-point deficit into a commanding 14-point advantage after fewer than three minutes of game time. The four-time MVP is now averaging 23 points per game through the Lakers’ perfect start while logging nearly 35 minutes per game, continuing to display remarkable longevity as his 40th birthday draws near.
“I caught a rhythm, had my outside shot going, got a couple ones in the paint as well,” James said. “Got a backdoor from [D’Angelo Russell] that worked well. So just trying to see what I had going to help us get us over the hump on this back-to-back.” First-year head coach and former podcast partner J.J. Redick heaped further praise on his aging superstar: “To just get that performance to start the fourth from LeBron, what can you say? We’ve all been very fortunate to watch his greatness for so long and the fact that he’s able to keep doing it, it’s just, it’s actually insane. It’s actually insane.”
The Lakers also continued to receive MVP-caliber performances from star power forward Anthony Davis Saturday, who extended his streak of 30-point outings with an efficient scoring effort against Sacramento while also hauling in nine rebounds. Los Angeles will look to remain perfect in Phoenix Monday evening against the Suns, with tip-off set for 10 p.m. ET on the NBA Network.
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