Many Lakers fans have lamented the general lack of effort from LeBron James on the defensive end of the floor this season, and with good reason. It’s been very clear that James is in regular season mode, which is to say he picks his spots to expend energy and, usually, he picks the offensive end of the floor.
Entering Wednesday against Portland, we’d yet to see James appear fully engaged in a game, but for whatever reason, he was against the Blazers. James had 16 first half points including a pair of late threes to pull ahead of the Blazers and continued his aggressive play in the second half, with 16 more in the third quarter and strong efforts on both ends of the floor.
In that third quarter, LeBron decided it was time to unleash his full fury with some help defense on a Nik Stauskas drive. As Sauce went up for a dunk, James rotated over and met him at the rim with an emphatic block, and then ran out in transition for a layup on the other end.
LeBron isn't gonna let Sauce put him on a poster ✋ https://t.co/kly1dGZZLL
— Dime (@DimeUPROXX) November 15, 2018
It’s the kind of effort the Lakers hope to get from LeBron more often, but if nothing else it’s proof of what he can do when he chooses to and a reminder to players that he’s still one of the best at blocking a shot at the rim as a help defender.
