LeBron James has praised the continued development of Kyle Kuzma following his starring role in the Los Angeles Lakers' hard-fought victory over the Indiana Pacers.
The defending NBA champions returned to action after the All-Star break on Friday, though they were made to work for the win by a Pacers team that led by 12 at one stage in the fourth quarter.
However, Kuzma led an impressive rally with his team in trouble, scoring 15 of his 24 points in the final quarter as the Lakers - again without the injured Anthony Davis - eventually triumphed by a 105-100 scoreline.
James had 18 points but was happy to defer to the hot hand, leading to 10 assists. After the game, the four-time MVP pointed to how his long-time team-mate has continued to get better, year on year.
"It's all about growth. The game has just slowed down every year for him. I've been with him for the past three years and the game has just slowed down," James told the media.
"He knows his role with this team - and he does it to a high level. Tonight was another example of that."
He added: "Tonight, he had it going. We continue to find the hot hand, so I wanted to continue to get him the ball so he could continue to make plays.
"That's the growth of him, knowing that some games are going to be different. It's not always going to be high-scoring nights, but he is still able to make an impact – especially on the glass, with his energy and effort.
"But we need him to make shots, especially in the absence of AD [Davis]."
Kuzma also contributed 13 rebounds as the Lakers played a 10th successive game without Davis, who is expected to be out for at least another two weeks due to a leg injury.
Center Marc Gasol is also sidelined, with James insisting it is now down to the rest of the roster to step up in the absence of the two big men.
Montrezl Harrell certainly helped out against the Pacers, contributing 17 points and six rebounds as he played 32 minutes off the bench.
"It's a collective group, a collective effort in the front court," James said. "Starting with DJ [Damian Jones], 'Trez' [Harrell] coming off the bench smooth, myself, Kyle, it's a collective group.
"We all have to put our hard hats on in the absence of Marc and AD, play bigger than our size. It's going to be a collective effort from all of us. We all have to step up."
Breakout March Madness coaching star lands Iona role, replacing Pitino
Iona did not take long to replace departed Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino, turning to the breakout star of the NCAA Tournament.
Tobin Anderson has been rewarded for leading 16-seed Fairleigh Dickinson into the second round with one of the biggest upsets in tournament history.
FDU defeated Purdue, who had won the Big Ten regular season title and the Big Ten Tournament, in what Anderson described as "one of the most unbelievable stories of all".
Anderson had garnered attention even before that first-round game, telling the Knights after a play-in win: "The more I watch Purdue, the more I think we can beat them. Let's go shock the world."
He and FDU delivered on that, although their run ended in the second round against Florida Atlantic, losing 78-70.
And that was the end of the road for Anderson at Fairleigh Dickinson as his appointment at Iona was confirmed on Tuesday.
The Gaels moved swiftly to name a new coach after Pitino left for St. John's this week.
"We are very excited to introduce Tobin Anderson as Iona University's men's basketball head coach," said Iona director of athletics Matthew Glovaski.
"We have long known him to be a fantastic coach and an even better person. Now, with his team's impressive run in the NCAA tournament, everyone paying attention to March Madness also knows this.
"We're delighted that he will be at the helm of our men's basketball programme."
Antoine Davis claims campaign stifled his hopes of beating Maravich's NCAA record at CBI
Antoine Davis claims there was a concerted effort to block him from breaking 'Pistol' Pete Maravich's NCAA points record after the Detroit Mercy Titans were not invited to the College Basketball Invitational.
The 24-year-old Davis finished his college career with 3,664 points, three behind Maravich's total, which was the precursor for a five-time NBA All-Star career.
Maravich scored his points in 83 games over three years for LSU at an average of 44.2 points, while Davis reached his total in 144 games across five seasons, averaging 25.4 points.
In an interview with the Associated Press, Davis spoke of feeling "upset" and "cheated" out of a possible moment of history.
Detroit Mercy's 14-19 record meant they were counted out of the reckoning for the CBI, despite initial interest from organisers.
Davis responded angrily to Twitter user @801bracketology, who posted: "I'm sorry WHAT? Antoine Davis feels he got 'cheated' out of the scoring record AND that the CBI is selfish for not inviting a 14-19 Detroit Mercy team?? Are you joking??"
In a retort to that comment, Davis suggested there had been pressure put on CBI organisers to exclude Detroit Mercy and deny him an opportunity to go past Maravich.
Davis posted: "I said they cheated me and 5 other seniors from playing post season play cause people like you are sending emails to the CBI telling them not to invite us so he can't break it. You don't know what you're talking about weirdo.
"So you should just shut up cause you don't know what's going on or why I said it."
Rick Giles, president of CBI organiser the Gazelle Group, last week told the Detroit News there had been consideration given to handing the Titans a place.
Talks took place, and Giles said: "After just weighing all the different factors, we just decided that we would move forward with the teams that we had. It was a number of things. It wasn't one single thing.
"It didn't turn on us wanting to facilitate him breaking the record or not, being for or against that. It was just weighing everything out. It was interesting."
Davis, who will hope to make his way in the professional game, also said last week: "My career can't and won't be taken away from me. If people were in my shoes, they would feel the same way. It's weird how people are moving about this."
Mike Davis, Antoine's father and head coach, said earlier this month: "People would have put an asterisk by his name if he would've broken [the record].
"Pistol Pete was in a world of his own, and there will never be another Pistol Pete in college basketball.
"I think there will never be another Antoine, the way he scored in 144 consecutive games."
Kyrie speaks out against Morant's 'overload of judgement from the court of public opinion'
Dallas Mavericks' All-Star Kyrie Irving took the opportunity in his post-game media appearance to share support for recently suspended Memphis Grizzlies franchise player Ja Morant.
The comments came after Monday's 112-108 road loss in Memphis, where Irving and Morant were seen embracing after the final whistle.
Morant had missed his ninth game in a row following an incident at a Colorado nightclub where he was seen on an Instagram live video flashing a gun to the camera.
An investigation by the NBA found the Grizzlies star guilty of bringing the league into disrepute by "holding a firearm in an intoxicated state", but there was no evidence the weapon belonged to him, or that he brought it onto the team plane, or any NBA facilities.
He was suspended for eight games, and missed Monday's contest also as he works his way back into game shape.
Irving said he understands what Morant is going through, and that he feels the public and media have treated him unfairly.
"I believe any hardship in life builds character," Irving told reporters. "When you’re dealing with particular hardships in the public eye, especially with the media being attracted to just keeping up with what we’re doing, or what’s the next kind of grab or story.
"I don’t want to assume anything by every media member, but that’s just the way it seems for me and my perspective, which is there was an overload of judgement on Ja.
"There was an overload of judgement on what I had going on, and there’s usually an overload of judgement from the public court of opinion."
He went on to discuss the "initial shock" Morant must have faced "dealing with the public opinion and all of the extra hoopla that comes with it".
"But then there’s a real human being dealing with emotion," he said. "I care about that aspect. That’s where I’m putting my energy.
"I wished his family well wishes, I wished him well wishes, and I just pray for his peace of mind.
"I was happy to see him out there today, and I just want him to make it through. He has a long career ahead of him. I don’t think anybody should be controlling but him."
Grizzlies wing Dillon Brooks shared that he feels Morant has nothing to prove to the rest of the group when he returns to action, saying "hell no" to the thought of the All-NBA talent coming off the bench as he works his way back.
"He's proved everything from the jump," he said. "Love him as a brother. He’s the one who really put this city on the map.
"We were a low-market team, just roaming around the NBA. Now we're one of the most talked about teams in the NBA. We have a pride in the sense of a chip on our shoulder every single game.
"He doesn't have to prove anything to us. We have his back and he has our back."
Irving ended up leaving the arena in a walking boot, which he called "precautionary" to protect his previously injured and now swollen toe after Brooks fell on it in the third quarter.
"I just gotta make it back home to Dallas and start my recovery work and do everything I can to prepare for the next day and a half," he said. "Take time, rest and exhaust all my options to be ready to play the next game.
"I was really worried about my ankle being sprained, but once we came back here. It wasn't, it was just a re-aggravation of that same spot on the top of my right foot... It went in a position where I could only re-aggravate my big toe. Again, unfortunate, but just looking forward to the next 48 hours."
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