LeBron James led the way with 24 points and 11 assists as the Los Angeles Lakers blew out the NBA-worst Washington Wizards 134-96 on Thursday, Jan. 30, at Capital One Arena. But his son, Bronny James, stole the show and the hearts of the opposing crowd with highlight plays in garbage time.
Bronny was serenaded with M-V-P chants as he bounced back strong from an embarrassing performance in Philadelphia with his career game in the nation’s capital.
The 20-year-old Lakers rookie played the entire fourth quarter and finished with an NBA career-high five points.
Proud Father
Bronny scored his lone basket of the night in style — a three-point play that wowed the crowd with his body control while absorbing contact in mid-air.
LeBron kept his emotions in check, low-key pumping his fist after Bronny made the shot. Rui Hachimura, a former Wizard who was the Lakers’ second-best scorer of the night with 22 points, embraced LeBron and put him in a headlock in a playful way as their whole bench erupted.
“We encourage enthusiastic bench energy,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said of their bench wildly celebrating Bronny’s three-point play. “That’s who we’re trying to be — a very connected group that roots for each other’s success.”
They needed that after their tough loss in Philadelphia against the Joel Embiid and Paul George-less 76ers and losing Anthony Davis to an abdominal muscle injury.
Bronny ‘Did a lot of Really Good Things’
Bronny was 1-for-6 from the field and while his offensive skillset still has a lot to be desired, his defense and playmaking stood out though it came against the Wizards’ fringe players.
“He did a lot of really good things tonight,” Redick said of Bronny. “I thought he made a couple of really nice passes. Defensively, he was great. Again it’s building blocks for every young player and I think tonight was a good positive building block for him.”
Redick was referring to Bronny’s full-court go-ahead pass off a steal to a streaking Dalton Knecht for the easy layup and an alley-oop pass to Christian Koloko, who threw down a monster dunk — that delighted the 17,491 crowd in attendance.
His final line of the night: two points, two rebounds, two assists and one steal with zero turnover.
Bronny was more composed and more patient this time after committing three turnovers and ending up -8 in the plus-minus column in their loss in the nationally televised game in Philadelphia. He was plus-3 in 12 minutes in their bounced-back win.
No MSG Moment for Bronny?
The Lakers improved to 27-19 and remained in fifth place in the loaded Western Conference. Bronny might not have this opportunity again when the Lakers visit the streaking New York Knicks this Saturday, Feb. 1, at Madison Square Garden.
Redick told reporters after the win that he’s hopeful Gabe Vincent (knee) and Dorian Finney-Smith (shoulder) will return for their nationally televised game against the Knicks, winners of their last five games, on ABC.
The Lakers will have their first true test without Davis against Karl-Anthony Towns, who is off to a fantastic start in his tenure in New York.
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