Lakers open to using LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony at center in more super-small lineups

LOS ANGELES — The push-and-pull of the Lakers’ tiny lineup with Anthony Davis astatine center, astatine this point, is simply a small tired.

Why not shingle it up: Should the Lakers play LeBron James astatine center?

The intriguing super-small lineup became viable connected Wednesday nighttime erstwhile Davis was retired with the flu, and it produced absorbing results: The Lakers were capable to travel backmost successful the 4th fourth against the Indiana Pacers and triumph successful overtime.

At 6-foot-9, James is an absorbing enactment to play the middle, adjacent if the Lakers person a hard capable clip playing him astatine powerfulness forward. But the four-time league MVP seemed to admit its viability aft the triumph connected Wednesday, saying it allowed him to telephone retired antiaircraft signals and plays from the backmost enactment better.

Teammate Malik Monk concurred with James’ assessment.

“He knows each play for each team,” helium said of James. “He knows what’s coming. He’s been successful this concern excessively galore times, man, not to cognize what’s going connected and not to pass with us. Us being amended is him communicating and letting america cognize everything portion he’s successful the backmost line.”

Indiana halfway Myles Turner was fundamentally played disconnected the tribunal by the lineup with James and Carmelo Anthony arsenic the 2 bigs, and the spacing it created helped the discourtesy heap up points surrounded by shooters. Stat tract Cleaning the Glass listed the Lakers’ lineups with either James oregon Anthony astatine halfway with a plus-38.8 nett rating, but entering Friday night, the Lakers had played lone 49 possessions with that arrangement.

Vogel said helium sees the imaginable of those lineups, but successful constricted doses – particularly to assistance support James from excessively overmuch carnal station play among his different duties.

JAMES FINED $15K FOR GESTURE, WARNED ON PROFANITY

In the 4th fourth of the Lakers’ triumph successful Indiana, James did a salacious creation that erstwhile NBA subordinate Sam Cassell erstwhile made celebrated by exaggerating his manhood.

On Friday, the NBA deed him backmost successful the wallet.

James was fined $15,000 for the celebration, which the NBA called “obscene,” arsenic good arsenic utilizing explicit connection erstwhile referring to his one-game suspension successful an interrogation with ESPN. The NBA has fined players earlier for the dance, including Cassell himself and Toronto Raptors defender Fred VanVleet. Following the suspension itself, it was the 2nd clip the league came down connected James successful 1 week.

Friday was besides the time erstwhile Detroit guardant Isaiah Stewart spoke for the archetypal clip since his dust-up with James, which outgo him a two-game suspension. Stewart’s notable contradiction from James’ mentation of events – that helium didn’t mean to deed him successful the look – was that helium didn’t deliberation James was truthful innocent.

“I watched the movie – maine personally, I don’t consciousness similar it was an accident,” helium said. “But it’s my past clip addressing it. My main absorption close present is connected my squad and my teammates, getting backmost to playing basketball. I’m not going to fto that specify who I am.”