For the vast majority of Thursday night’s game against the Houston Rockets, Playoff Intensity LeBron James looked a whole lot like, well, Not Playoff Intensity LeBron James. In the second half, though, he was able to reach down and grab just enough of that effort to help the Los Angeles Lakers pull out a huge win, 111-106.
For those stretches of the game that James didn’t have it physically, the Lakers’ youth did all they could to carry the team. Their shots might not have always been falling, but guys like Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma were flying all over the court and competing, whereas veterans like JaVale McGee, well, weren’t.