In a surprising move, Lakers head coach JJ Redick kept second-year guard Bronny James on the court for the majority of the crunch-time minutes during their 130-120 victory over the Miami Heat on Sunday.
Bronny, who finished with two points, two assists and three steals, played a total of 18 minutes, most of which were in the fourth quarter. While his numbers don’t jump off the screen, the son of LeBron James made some critical defensive plays, especially in the waning moments of the game, which earned JJ Redick’s praise.
After the game, Redick explained why he subbed Bronny into the game at the 7:32 mark of the fourth quarter and kept him in until the final minute.
“I thought he was really good on the ball. He got a steal off the ball, but I thought he was good on the ball,” Redick said after the game, via BasketNews.
Bronny James Made ‘Play of the Game’
Redick praised Bronny for applying the same on-ball defensive pressure during the Lakers’ 122-108 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers last week. Although Bronny went scoreless in 20 minutes of that game, he came away with a steal and a block.
“Now I’ve seen it twice over the last week or so — he was really just a force in terms of containment and physicality,” Redick said of Bronny.
“Then he made arguably the play of the game: when Luka was double-teamed, he was the next guy, drove the closeout, got to the paint, read the defense, and ended up getting his teammate a wide-open three.”
The “play of the game” Redick is referring to came at the 6:53 mark in the fourth quarter when Bronny found Marcus Smart for a corner three, which gave the Lakers a 114-107 cushion. That play, among his three steals, earned him valuable playing time.
Bronny James Finishes Lob Dunk
The 21-year-old’s only basket of the game came when he caught a lob dunk from point guard Austin Reaves with 1:19 left in the first quarter. That field goal gave the Lakers a 40-30 lead after Luka Doncic got the ball rolling with his rapid-fire start.
Reaves, who finished with 26 points and 11 assists, said that he may be the first player in NBA history to throw a lob to a father and a son, referencing the many alley-oop connections between himself and LeBron James.
“I’ve got to be the first person in NBA history to throw a father a lob and a son a lob,” Reaves said, via ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “It was a pretty special moment.”
Incidentally, the basket marked Bronny’s first field goal of the season after he went 0-for-5 through his first three outings. The second-year guard is averaging 0.5 points, 1.3 assists and 1.0 steals through four games, while clocking 11.5 minutes per night.
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