The Lakers defeated the Pelicans on Dec. 8 to advance to the midseason tournament finals. James played the best player of the match in 23 minutes, with 30 points, five rebounds and eight assists on 9-of-12 shooting. After the game, James was asked about the current state of the Lakers' full health and good defense.
Although the Lakers still have Vincent, a starter-level guard, have not returned, the current Lakers basic lineup is in place. James thinks the Lakers can solve the problem, because the Lakers are starting to get healthy now, and James can already see what kind of strength the Lakers are in full swing.
James also admires the Lakers' defense very much, he said that the Lakers can win the game and enter the Finals because of defense, and they emphasize defense at the beginning, because as long as the defense is good, the Lakers can win any opponent. James said that the Lakers are getting stronger because the Lakers are starting to get fit, the injured players with height are coming back, and all the players are obeying the team's defensive tactics, cooperating with each other to defend, sharing the ball on the offensive end, and they are now playing basketball with their own characteristics.
While James is happy with the Lakers today, he thinks the Lakers could be better, especially in the next midseason tournament final against the Pacers. Haliburton is the new league's No. 1 point guard, leading the Pacers to knock out the Celtics and Bucks in consecutive upsets. So James said the Lakers should have played better in the finals, but he didn't emphasize that it was the finals, just that it was another game.