JJ Redick takes aim at haters after LeBron James’ 1st back-to-back of season

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Lakers snapped a 3-game losing streak, defeating the Atlanta Hawks, 141-116, largely in part because of LeBron James playing his first back-to-back of the season. James was the Lakers’ leading scorer with a game-high 31 points, and following the game, head coach JJ Redick spoke about the absurdity of anyone trying to criticize him.

“I don’t take for granted, the LeBron stuff,” Redick said. “It’s actually unfortunate, how much this guy puts into it, how much he cares, and the way certain people talk about it, it’s crazy. Come be around him every day, and see how much this guy cares.”

At 41-years-old and in a historic 23rd season in the NBA, LeBron James had not played in any back-to-backs so far as the Lakers continue to monitor his mileage. Recently, Redick revealed that the Lakers had canceled game-day shootarounds partly to keep James’ fresh.

After playing 33 minutes the night before against the Sacramento Kings, the assumption was James was not going to play against the Hawks. But after going through his pregame routine, James felt good enough to suit up.

“We didn’t expect him to be able to play, that’s the nature of a 41-year-old,” Redick said. “Plays heavy minutes, and he just said, ‘I’m going to try to do everything I can, do my normal routine, see if I’m able to go.”

James ended up one rebound short of a triple-double, adding 10 assists and nine rebounds. He was 12-of-20 (60 percent) from the field, 2-of-4 (50 percent) from the 3-point line and 5-of-6 (83.3 percent) shooting from the free-throw line.

By playing in the back-to-back, James also kept alive his chances for an All-NBA selection at the end of the season. Having missed 17 games already, he cannot miss another game or he will fall short of the NBA’s requirement of 65 games played to be eligible for postseason honors.

Coming into Tuesday’s game against the Hawks, James had suited up in a total of 20 games at a little over 33 minutes per game. He’s been averaging 22.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 6.8 assists and 1.1 steals with splits of 50.8 percent shooting from the field, 30.4 percent shooting from the 3-point line and 72.4 percent shooting from the free-throw line.

The Lakers have one more set of back-to-back games this month, on Jan. 17 against the Portland Trail Blazers and Jan. 18 against the Toronto Raptors. It will be interesting to see what the plan for James will be as the season progresses.

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