LeBron And Lonzo Wrote History In Front of MJ

For the second time in their history, the Los Angeles Lakers had two players on the court with a triple-double in the same game. LeBron James and Lonzo Ball were the first pair after Kareem Abdul-Jabar and Magic Johnson to accomplish such an achievement. Purple and gold waited for this moment since 1982.

This fact entirely cast a shadow on the Lakers’ win over the Charlotte Hornets, 128-100. They outplayed the home team 40-17 in the third quarter.

“We just tried to do a little bit of everything to help our team win,” said LeBron. “We tried to put the ball in the hole, rebound so we could start the break, and get our guys involved.

🎥 LeBron James led the Lakers to victory with 24 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists – all team-highs #LakersWin pic.twitter.com/UmkEFlEj7f

— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) December 16, 2018

King James finished the night with 24 points, 12 rebounds, and 11 assists. LBJ sat throughout the whole fourth quarter, resting since the outcome was already decided. He as all the other Lakers players had a huge motive coming into this game, as they played in front of Michael Jordan.

Now, including this one, LeBron has 27-1 against Charlotte, and that might be an indicator of his motivation to prove himself to the person to whom everybody compares him.

Meanwhile, Lonzo Ball had 16 points and 10 boards and assists apiece. On top of that, he added 5 steals, completely neutralizing Kemba Walker, one of the top scorers in the league, who was averaging more than 25 points per game coming into this event.

At the end of this one, he had only 4, shooting 2 of 13 from the field, missing all of this 5 three-pointers. The No.2 pick from last year’s draft was all over him.

It is interesting that his teammates forced Ball to play the whole contest, in order to reach the triple-double figures. To be more exact, it was LeBron who signaled all the others that Lonzo has a chance to reach TD. The player himself wasn’t aware of his stats, and with Lakers having a huge lead, the whole lineup wanted to help him.

“They told me start of the fourth they wanted me to get it, and I got it for ‘em,” said Ball, who now has three triple-doubles in his young career.

When asked after the game, what is the feeling to make history alongside his idol, Ball said that it is fantastic.

“Dream come true. I grew up watching him my whole life, he’s my favorite player of all time.”

One fun fact for all of the stats fanatics. Lonzo Ball was the guy who broke LeBron’s record as the youngest players ever to post a triple-double last season. Markelle Fultz later set on of his own.

🎥 Lonzo Ball notched his first triple-double of the season with 16 points, 10 boards, and 10 assists in tonight's #LakersWin pic.twitter.com/hlqMg3Dumr

— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) December 16, 2018

The two guys were fantastic last night, being involved directly in 63 of Lakers’ 73 points while playing together on the floor.

Coach Luke Walton was thrilled with his players after the match, especially with Ball, who needs a bit more confidence to show his true talent. LeBron and the rest of the crew already spoke about that, and they’ve encouraged the youngster to be more aggressive and take matters into his hands a bit more often.

“They’re both such brilliant playmakers, when they’re aggressive and can get in the lane, it puts a lot of pressure on another team’s defense. LeBron, we’re kind of used to him doing that, but I thought Zo made some really nice strides tonight as far as continuing to try to get downhill.” Walton stated.

Luke Walton on what worked well for the #Lakers in tonight's win and @KingJames & @ZO2_'s performance. pic.twitter.com/MdiVDN8c2m

— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) December 16, 2018

This was an important win for the purple and gold after a tough loss against Houston, which was surrounded with a lot of controversies regarding the officials and their calls. The players needed to response well and forget what happened in Texas.

Lakers are fourth in the West at the moment, with 18 wins and 11 losses, having 7-3 over the previous 10 games. They are in the middle of a four-game tour through East, having the second of back-to-back games tonight against the Washington Wizards. After that, James and the boys head for Brooklyn to face Nets n Wednesday.