Los Angeles Lakers rookie guard Bronny James followed up his career game with another stellar performance 24 hours later.
Bronny dropped 17 points, matching his career-high in 3-pointers made (5) and assists (9) as he helped the South Bay Lakers repeat over Santa Cruz Warriors 134-130 on Tuesday, March 25.
South Bay closed the game with a 14-2 run after Santa Cruz took a 128-120 lead with 2:37 left. Bronny hit his final 3-pointer with 1:23 remaining to cut the deficit to 130-127. Then he fed Quincy Olivari for the game-tying 3-pointer in the next play.
A Kylor Kelley putback slam and Olivari’s free throws sealed the win for South Bay.
It was not as sensational as his career-high 39-point explosion in their 122-118 win against the same team 24 hours earlier as Bronny missed 13 of 18 shots. But he more than made up for it by knocking down 5-of-12 from the 3-point line and added six rebounds and two steals in 36 minutes.
Bronny Impacts Winning
It was South Bay’s sixth win in 11 games with Bronny on assignment in the G League regular season. The Lakers’ 55th overall selection is averaging 21.9 points on 44/38/82 shooting splits with 5.5 assists, 5.3 rebounds and 2.0 steals.
Bronny is developing his outside shot to become the 3-and-D player he aims to be. He’s making 3.2 3s per game on high-volume attempts (8.3) in the developmental league. But most importantly, he’s plus-13 in 376 minutes playing for the Lakers’ G League affiliate.
Tuesday’s repeat win over Santa Cruz closed out South Bay’s home schedule in the regular season. They will play their last two games on the road facing this season’s worst team, the Iowa Wolves, on Friday (March 28) and Saturday (March 29).
It is unclear if Bronny will play in both games to finish the G League regular season. The Lakers do not have a game on Friday while they close out their four-game road trip in Memphis on Saturday.
Bronny: ‘I Belong Out Here’
Following his career game on Monday, Bronny was asked what his performance meant to him.
“I belong out here,â Bronny told Spectrum Sportsnet after his impressive performance. âThatâs all Iâm trying to prove. A lot of people say that I donât. So I just come out, work every day, try to get better every day and improve myself.â
Bronny scored 13 of his 39 points in the fourth quarter. He added seven rebounds, four assists, four steals and a block in 38 minutes. He shot 14-of-21 from the field, including 4-of-8 from the 3-point line.
Bronnyâs best performance in the G League came four days after he had his breakout game in the NBA. On Thursday, March 20, Bronny scored a season-high 17 points against the Milwaukee Bucks with nearly half of the Lakers roster unavailable, including his father LeBron James.
His best performances in the pros â NBA and G League level â also came after the public confrontation between his father and ESPNâs âFirst Takeâ host Stephen A. Smith earlier this month.
âAll the criticisms that come my way, itâs just amazing to shut all that down and keep going in my head,â Bronny told Spectrum Sportsnet.
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