Bronny James scored a career-high five points. He shot only 1 of 6 from the field, but he made a driving layup while being fouled and converted the free throw for a three-point play.
“He did a lot of really good things tonight. I thought he made a couple really nice passes," Lakers coach JJ Redick said. "Defensively he was great. It's building blocks for every young player, and I think tonight was a good, positive building block for him.”
James' night also included an air ball from 3-point range, two rebounds, two assists and two fouls. He came up with a steal and made a nice long pass to Dalton Knecht for a dunk. Shortly after his lone field goal, James drove to the basket again and lobbed an alley-oop to Christian Koloko for a dunk.
James closed out the scoring with a pair of free throws in the final seconds — and received an “MVP! MVP!” chant from the crowd.
“He's had eyeballs on him his whole life. He's used to it,” Redick said. "I remember not playing a lot my rookie year and second year. The Orlando fans would sometimes chant that in a blowout in the fourth quarter — ‘We want JJ' — and it’s a weird feeling. There's that audible sort of anticipation every time you shoot the ball. It's a lot.
“He has handled everything with dignity, grace, class, all that stuff. He'll continue to grow.”
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Credit: AP