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LeBron James Offers Heavy Praise for Entire Lakers Bench, Says They Won Game vs. Utah Jazz
- Updated: December 5, 2019
The Los Angeles Lakers routed the Utah Jazz 121-96 on Wednesday night with plenty of help coming from the Lakers’ bench mob.
After the game, LeBron James made sure to give credit where it was due.
LeBron James on the Lakers' bench tonight (via @SpectrumSN):
“They won the game for us… Everybody was a plus off the bench. Kuz, ‘Do, Troy, Dwight, AD, TD — oh wait I said Troy already — Dudz, QC when he came in. Everybody was a plus."
— Harrison Faigen (@hmfaigen) December 5, 2019
Coming into the Jazz match, it is likely that not many expected Los Angeles to defeat Utah in such dominant fashion given the circumstances. The Lakers were on the second night of a back-to-back, with both games coming against Western Conference contenders on the road.
On Tuesday, the Lakers faced the Nuggets in Denver. It took a herculean effort from an ailing Anthony Davis and crunch-time plays from James for the Lakers to finally pull away from their opponents in the last minutes of the fourth quarter.
The following day, the Lakers were up against a Jazz team that had just lost one game at home prior to the match. Despite that, the Lakers showed up with more energy than the home team thanks to the strong effort of their bench.
Rajon Rondo paced the second unit, posting a near triple-double with 14 points, 12 assists and nine rebounds. Kyle Kuzma also played well on both ends of the court, ending up with 14 points, four steals and three blocks.
The Lakers will need this kind of contribution from their bench if they want to hoist the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy at the end of the season.