Before LeBron James hit a spectacular fadeaway 3-pointer to help seal a much-needed victory on Saturday night over the New Orleans Pelicans, James got a key stop when guarding Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday.
James’ defense has been highly-scrutinized, but he’s made a habit of making important defensive plays in key spots even though folks have questioned his effort more than ever. But the man who was on the receiving end of some great LeBron defense late in Thursday knows that’s what he’s capable of.
Holiday told Yahoo’s Chris Haynes that James can “do what he wants” defensively when he is focused.
“He’s kind of a freak of nature where he can do whatever he wants,” Holiday told Yahoo Sports of James’ defense. “He can guard one through five. It just takes effort, that’s all it really is. I think for him athletically, he can move and he can stay in front of anybody. Yeah, there are quicker guys, but if he gets beat, he can meet you at the rim. … Offensively, he puts it on his shoulders, so from that point, you kind of have to find ways to preserve energy and I feel like sometimes he does that on defense, which I don’t blame him.”
James carried a major load offensively, but he was also deployed more as a screener than he usually is. James has totaled 24 possessions as the “roll man” all season, according to Synergy Sports and he recorded 4 such possessions in Wednesday’s win.
Perhaps that could have been a reason we saw a better defensive effort from James and the Lakers overall on Wednesday than they had Saturday against the same Pelicans team.
