LeBron James Reacts To Lakers’ Regular Season Milestone

While much of the Los Angeles Lakers success for the past year and a half has been credited to LeBron James and Anthony Davis, it’s been a complete team effort for the defending champs on the defensive end.

The Lakers finished with the top-ranked defense in the NBA this year, coming in just ahead of the Philadelphia 76ers with a 106.8 defensive rating. It’s the first time since the 1999-2000 season that Los Angeles has finished with the league’s top-ranked defense.

Among those excited about the Lakers regular season accolade was the “The King” himself. LeBron took to Twitter on Tuesday to celebrate his team’s accomplishment on the defensive end.

Take a look:

James certainly deserves some credit for the Lakers defensive success, but it’s Davis that should receive most of the honor. After finishing second in Defensive Player of the Year voting last season, the eight-time All Star served as the team’s defensive anchor yet again in his 36 appearances this year.

But when James and Davis were off the court, the Lakers role players held their own in Frank Vogel‘s system. Alex Caruso, Dennis Schröder served as pesky defensive guards, while Kyle Kuzma and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope held their own out on the wing. Marc Gasol and late season addition Andre Drummond worked solidly on the back end as rim protectors.

Despite the Lakers defensive efforts, the defending champs stumbled to a 42-30 regular season record and finished seventh in the Western Conference. That means James and company will have to take on the eight-seeded Warriors in No. 7 vs. No. 8 game of the play-in tournament.

The Lakers defense will be put to the test by Steph Curry, but if they can at least slow down the Warriors sharpshooter, they’ll be in a good position to advance to the first round.

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