Lakers News: How Sharing The Ball Saved The Day For L.A.

The Lakers bested the Magic for a much-needed victory last night.

Last night, your Los Angeles Lakers managed to fend off the Orlando Magic to secure their first win in the past five games, 129-110, and just their second overall since losing All-Star center Anthony Davis to a right foot stress injury.

The team did that, in part, by stepping up their passing game. The Lakers registered 32 assists on the night, seven better than the Magic. Predictably, the game's best passers for L.A. were All-Star forward LeBron James, who had five, and Sixth Man of the Year contender Russell Westbrook, who had 13. Starters Dennis Schröder, Lonnie Walker IV, and Patrick Beverley each logged dimes two apiece.

For the year, Los Angeles is averaging 24.7 assists a game, the 14th-best such sum in the NBA, per ESPN.

Head coach Darvin Ham spoke with reporters following the game, and made sure to emphasize just how much of an impact the Lakers' increased focus on passing had on the club's performance.

Darvin Ham with a few takeaways from tonight's win over the Orlando Magic. pic.twitter.com/fdNNuLuChW

— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) December 28, 2022

"No one knows exactly when Anthony will be coming back but in the mean time guys [have] gotta step up," Ham noted. "Not just our big guys, everyone, as a unit. Be more locked in, be more cohesive, more competitive. You're never gonna replace a player of that magnitude but what you can do is everyone share the load."

"The ball movement tonight was one of the examples of how you can try to weather that storm. We had 32 assists, six people in double figures. That's the way you do it. Everyone pitches in, everyone pulls their end of the rope."