LeBron SHOWING HIS AGE⁉️ REACTION to Lakers’ double-digit loss to the Suns | NBA Today

LeBron SHOWING HIS AGE⁉️ REACTION to Lakers’ double-digit loss to the Suns | NBA Today

We’ve had some awesome moments so far this season. Hope everyone had a fabulous Thanksgiving. We had eight games on the slate last night, meaning 308 games have now been played this season. And why does that matter? Well, we’ve officially crossed the quarter mark of the NBA year. That’s where the small sample sizes, they become quite substantial. So, coming up here on NBA Today, we’re going to take stock right here on the defending champions because not only are they in position to become the first team to repeat since KD’s Warriors, but they can also break the record of 73 wins set by the team that preceded him. Plus, over in the East, the newest Bad Boy Pistons, they are proving that last season’s turnaround, right, it wasn’t just historic, but it was a stepping stone to something even greater. And the two teams that aren’t on this snapshot, they’re not anywhere in the playoff picture. We’re looking at you the the Clippers and the Milwaukee Bucks. They have a lot more to worry about than being in Cabo when April turns to May because from the standings to the stats, we haven’t seen leadwide scoring like this since the 1960s. And the guy who leads the way, none other than Luca Donic at just over 35 points a game. Chenet Danny Luca and his Lakers, they had their hands full with the Suns last night here in Los Angeles. And Luca came out hot here, Chenet. He really was cranking it up in the first quarter. I love how he controls the tempo. He also controls his speed with the breaks. This is the area that he loves. He can really as a big guard post people up. He had 20 points in the first quarter, the 15th time he’s done it in his career. But then here comes Dylan Brooks. Dylan the villain. When when Devin Booker went out with that groin injury, he really stepped up in more ways than one. Oh, he definitely did. Twin was in his bag. He’s my evil twin if y’all didn’t know that. He was in the post mid-range. MJ’s shake. No, I don’t have I had braids at one point. That’s why he’s the evil twin. But he he was in his bag last night. He certainly was. And then right here, the Suns going the other way in transition. Dylan the villain throwing it down. Some shifting. Here’s what Brooks had to say after the game cuz this rivalry with LeBron, it goes back a little bit, right? He likes people that know to bow down. I don’t bow down. That either entices him or aggravates him either or that is a chain right there. Certainly was. So third quarter, this was an interesting sequence here, Chenet, because JJ Reic is clearly saying, “Bro, Ron trying to get LeBron’s attention here. You can hear him on the audio yelling it.” And LeBron, when the camera moves over, is chatting with the Sun’s bench during the play. So Reic, he calls a timeout and is seen shaking his head a little afterwards. Clearly very calm in this moment. And you can see from another angle here exactly that he’s still chatting after the timeout has been called here. The back and forth it continues. But in the fourth quarter, hey at all, it’s calling Gillespie time, Danny. Yep. He got hot and he let him know who he was tonight. I think it was like four straight games of three plus threes. Last night, eight eight threes and they kept leaving them open. Scouting report, y’all. They’re going to find out. You learn the hard way. 16 of your points in the fourth quarter. Here’s JJ Reic on the team’s performance after the game. It’s a weird sort of thing. It really is. It’s like It’s like the Monstars taking over the people that you’ve grown to coach and they’re not doing anything that they normally do. Yeah, that was my fault. Uh, no way I can have nine turnovers in the game. Uh, so in that second quarter, um, instead of just they gave me the shots instead of shooting the ball, I feel like I was trying to get involved, but there’s no way I I should have nine turnovers. I’m not going to say it’s all Luca’s fault in this game. There’s a lot to unpack with what went wrong, but Danny, let’s start with Luca Dodge in the turnovers. Yeah, I mean, he did have 38 points in three quarters, so he did help, but they Lakers themselves had 22 turnovers for 30 points, but it started with Luca. And also, sometimes bad shots are considered turnovers. Luca coming in off the screen. Roll the tape. Coming in to play that third quarter or even the second quarter is when it started. He kind of lost his energy a little bit coming off the screen. They did a great job of switching, but him playing in the crowd. You see four bodies there. Most times he’s able to make this pass. Ruy’s been open. They didn’t involve him quite a bit at all last night. But Phoenix did a great job of kind of showing the crowd and then getting back home and kind of predicting Luca’s pass or his next move. Same situation here. Get a back down. You got triple team coming him in the paint playing in the crowd. Pump fake. He’s great with his ball fakes. DeAndre Aiden is too crowded. Got to find a way to get it out sooner earlier, but him having these type of turnovers. Not only were they bad because they led to pick sixes. These guys can transition not only twos, but threes. Gillespie, one of his eight threes right there, knocking them down, making them pay. But hold on, wait a minute. Because that’s the domino effect. When you have those poor turnovers, what does that lead to? It leads to poor transition defense. Look at the differential here, which is tied for the worst for the Lakers all season. The Suns scored 28 points in transition compared to the Lakers, too. And there are a couple of possessions that I want to highlight where Luca obviously he’s trying to do bad all by himself which he’s capable of but still when they send the entire team the squad when he’s in a scrum over here like three or four guys are on him sometimes those shots are off balance and that shot becomes a pass and then it becomes a touchdown sprint LeBron normally can get those but right now looking first time I’ve seen him look human he looked 40 right there and then Dylan Brooks scores on the other side here again if you saw the shot clock it’s around 18 seconds that’s a quick early shot that’s a short court for a Then there’s a little bit confusion. I think it’s Mark Williams that’s like, “Hey guys, we’ve got someone on the backside. Two people running to him instead of the three-point line. Goodwin knocking down the three.” So those turnovers, those bad shots lead to something worse for the Lakers. Yeah. And that leads to again when you’re looking at the losses, we’re they’re coming off a sevengame winning streak, the Los Angeles Lakers are. So I don’t want to say the sky is completely falling, but they have not looked good in the losses that they’ve had this season. And you can see how that stacks up here. But you mentioned LeBron James looking human, maybe even using the O word, looking old. That’s another storyline back to back because he he only played in one half of it though, Danny. He barely reached 10 points in this one. He hit a three with just under seven minutes remaining to extend his double digit scoring streak to 1,297 games. Here’s LeBron afterward. Turnovers, turnovers, transition points, obviously on our home floor and against a disruptive defense like that, you can’t turn the ball over that much. And uh pretty much all pick sixes, you know, they not only turned us over, they was able to convert them. You were on the um injury report with like left foot injury management. It wasn’t sad. It’s called old. You get it. You understand. Yeah. You understand. Just wake up had the night before. You know, he extended that double digit point streak, but it was really a rough night for him. Three for 10 shooting and as many assists as he had turnovers. This was also the first time in his career that he finished a game with zero rebounds, zero blocks, and zero steals. So, let’s bring in Brian Winhurst because there’s not many people in the industry who’ve followed LeBron more closely as you have over what is quickly approaching the last 25 years. What was going through your mind? Was it Was it old as you were watching LeBron James chase that double digit mark in the fourth quarter when it was already a blowout game? Yeah, he didn’t have any lift. Um, he didn’t have any burst and he didn’t have any lift. We haven’t really seen this from LeBron. I I know that he’s shown his age at times over the last couple seasons. This is the first time this year I felt he’s looked this way. Watch this play here. He goes baseline and he’s just got no lift on that shot. This is easy pickings for Mark Williams here. This is just not a typical LeBron James play. So, you know, it was the the second game in uh in three nights for him. Um and so he did he was a scratch on Sunday. The whole Lakers team frankly looked slow. It was their third game in four nights. And so I feel like that played into it. The Suns are a team that play deep. They play with a lot of pace. It’s their game plan and it worked in this game. But we we want this to be an outlier situation. Certainly an outlier situation in his career. Never having impact athletic plays, rebounds, blocks, steals. That’s what he’s done his whole life. So definitely something to keep our eye on. You do not want to see this be the norm. You want to see this have LeBron having an old bad night. Not something that we see recurrently. Yeah. I mean, it happens overnight when you become the old guy and it happens very quickly and sometimes it’s an injury and sciatica could be a reason why, you know, he’s a little off. You know, he looked normal. He didn’t look he looked better than most 40-year-olds, but he didn’t look like LeBron that we’ve seen the last, you know, 10 years or so. And I seen it when he was kind of chasing guys down. He was just a half a second late of getting a a knock a block out of bounds off the glass or just that that run out. Dylan Brooks, him not being that free safety and getting those steals and being a wide receiver out there. him being a step slow showed his age a little bit last night, but just their energy and it wasn’t just him, but their whole group last night, they seemed out of it. And for him to have to stay in the game that long and and struggled to get the double digit points is kind of a sign like this might be the year we see his age a little bit. But again, it’s just one game. They did win seven straight seven in a row. They weren’t a heater. This was a backto-back. So, I give him a little grace. I will say it doesn’t, you know, it doesn’t happen overnight. I think you have the epiphany like, “Oh snap, I’m really in the mix of this.” Um, it’s something that is a slow progression, but what I will say is as players age, their game also evolves. And I do think we’ve seen the full evolution of LeBron James, knowing that when he started, it wasn’t necessarily, you know, knocking down threes or backing guys down. Like, he was naturally that athletic guy that could hit the mid-range that could get downhill. And then eventually we started realizing, oh, his three-point shot is there. And I I think we’ve seen like the full circle nature where he just has to maybe it’s not those touchdown plays. Maybe it’s just playing within the confines of an offense with two amazing playmakers, Austin Reeves and the Lakers were incredibly off last night. But give the Phoenix Suns credit particularly when Deon Booker went down. Colin Gillespie and your your twin Dylan Brooks really really took over. We didn’t realize that you two were were were twins uh until we went back. They found one. They found a picture. Wow. Never again. Danny. Danny. Never again. The reason why we’re able because he has the braids. I usually more clean cut. That’s why we’re opposite. This is why. All right. Well, the Suns have been one of the biggest surprises of the season. That’s You’re a man of many surprises there. Another one. Only season was Detroit. The game of the night thanks to Kate Cunningham. Coming up clutch once again for the Pistons here. Pick this one up. I’m so hyped. Hey, getting downhill. Let me tell you, I love this because going from Luca to Cage is just perfect. It’s chef’s kiss. two big guards in the NBA that control the tempo that are masterful and he is on the rise alongside his team. But speaking of on the rise, this is a heck of a game here. The Hawks, they quick they’ve been balling. Yeah, Jaylen Johnson been cooking up. He’s been balling. 29 points, 12 in the fourth for Johnson, by the way. The Hawks up now. And then Jaylen Johnson finds Nquil Alexander Walker in the quarter. This is what they got him. 26 points here for Alexander Walker. The Hawks tie it all up. And the ensuing Pistons possession, Kade gets to his spot. See that crossover? That’s on Dyson Daniels, too. He ain’t no slouch. No, he’s he’s a leader in that. Pistons up two. Kade spins out of the double. Oh my god. Multiple defenders and still the baby oil. Lazy. We’re not using that. We’re not talking about that no more. What? Keep it in the same hand. Boys here. Baby oil. No. No. No. No. No. No. No. Not over here. Where’s Kate on it, boys? Time out. Danny, why are you at your best in winning time? Something that I feel is my responsibility is to help take my team over the finish line. And I want to come through for my team each and every time. So, you know, whatever that takes is is what I’m willing to do. That was the conversation that Kate and I have had about how clutch he has come up this season in the Pistons. They’ve won 12 games in clutch time. That’s the most in the NBA. And a lot of it’s got to do with Kade, right? He’s a monster in the fourth quarter. This he’s second in points scored. He’s tied for second in assists and second in usage. There’s an award for that in that award for that. We see the clutch play right here. He’s He’s going for beating that top five in MVP. I think K’s been big all season, but let’s take a look at our big three plays of the night. Starting with Keonte George, look away. Oh my god. Game track game. Oh my goodness. Come out. Look, I I respect George has been balling. He has. Yes, he has. He had a rough night the other night, so I knew he’d come out with some aggressiveness, but this was angry. Well, if that was play number three, then what’s play number two? Uh that we have to go to the Mavericks and the Nuggets here because we got another Nicole Joic dime. Payton Watson with a jam. Watch out Flag. Welcome to the NBA moment. No, not at all. He was That was a business decision. That was a business. I think I think a nice little alley. No, that was a business decision. Yeah. So, our number one play of the night that comes courtesy of our friends that don’t always make the show, but they’re in it today. Darn it. The Hornets and the Nets. Two for one. Noah Clowny. Drive to the rim. Oh. Oh. Slams it on Runner there. Yeah, I’m here for it. But wait, there’s more. Don’t worry. Okay. Danny Wolf driving into the jamming it on Miles Bridges. He knows a thing or two about dunking it like that. Oh, okay. Danny

Brian Windhorst, Chiney Ogwumike and Danny Green join Malika Andrews on NBA Today to react to the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss to the Phoenix Suns.

0:00 Suns vs. Lakers highlights
3:08 JJ Redick & Luka Doncic’s comments
3:46 Luka’s mistakes
5:50 LeBron extends double-digit scoring streak
6:57 Age catching up to LeBron?
10:07 Cade Cunningham’s performance
11:44 Big 3 plays

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