If someone knows playoff LeBron James pretty well, that’s definitely Frank Vogel. Long before he coached the Los Angeles Lakers, he used to be on the other endas the coach of the Indiana Pacers.
That’s why he knows that a locked-in LeBron James is bad news for everybody else around the league, and that’s exactly what his team is going to need as they travel to the desert for Game 5 of their first-round series.
Vogel warned the Phoenix Suns not to be overconfident now that Anthony Davis is expected to miss the game, as that only means that LeBron will play more minutes and get more touches now.
Anthony Davis Out Means More Touches For LeBron James, Warns Frank Vogel
When I competed against the Miami Heat and either [Dwyane] Wade or [Chris] Bosh were out, (that meant) more touches for ‘Bron,” said Vogel, as quoted by Robert Marvi of Heat Nation. “That wasn’t necessarily a good thing for my Pacers teams. So it’s just gonna be more opportunity for ‘Bron and obviously, we need more guys to step up.”
Needless to say, it’s been a while since LeBron played with the Heat, and Father Time is undefeated, so it’s not like he can wear him out for 40+ minutes a night. Then again, it’s LeBron James we’re talking about.
Thus far, The King hasn’t posted the numbers he’s used to posting in the playoffs, at least in terms of scoring, mostly because the Lakers’ offense relied more heavily upon Anthony Davis. Now, that’ll have to change.
Injuries have defined the course of this series thus far, with the Lakers winning back-to-back games after Chris Paul suffered a shoulder injury, and Phoenix getting one back when Anthony Davis left the floor. But, can they seal the deal without the Lakers’ second-best player? That’s yet to be seen.