After making arguably the biggest play of the game on Saturday, Rui Hachimura got plenty of praise from LeBron James postgame.
The Lakers have handed away multiple games this season in multiple different ways. Late on Saturday, with a chance to ice away the game against the Kings, the Lakers looked primed to do it again.
After a pair of misses by Anthony Davis at the free throw line with 12 seconds left and the Lakers up three, Rui Hachimura made the biggest play of the game, tapping the rebound out to to AD before eventually find its way to Austin Reaves at midcourt.
This time, Reaves would knock down his two free throws to seal the victory, all thanks to Rui’s enormous play.
Rui Hachimura to the rescue!
— LakeShow Highlights (@LSH_lakeshow) December 22, 2024
AD misses two clutch free throws to ice the game, but Rui slaps out the rebound and it goes to Austin Reaves who makes both free throws.
YEA RUI !! pic.twitter.com/7PHqb0O4va
“I knew the other guy next me was going to go to AD so I knew if I pushed a little bit, I could kind of get a good position and I could tap out,” Rui said postgame. “I’ve been doing that the whole season. But that was much needed. I kind of felt bad that I missed the last three in the corner so I was like I got to get back something for the team.”
As Rui noted, he had a chance for a huge 3-pointer with 1:20 left and the Lakers up six with a wide-open look from the corner. While that shot missed, he certainly redeemed himself moments later.
Making that rebound more impressive was who it came against. With Sacramento subbing in their rebounding lineup of Alex Len alongside Domantas Sabonis, Rui was matched up with the latter.
The board capped off a great night on the glass for Rui. That final rebound gave him a season-high 11 with three of those offensive. Rui’s work on the glass continues to be huge positive for him this season as he is regularly proving his importance to the team.
“He’s been great,” LeBron James said after Saturday’s win. “He’s paying attention to detail. He knows what we’re doing every single night. We rely on him. He’s a big piece of our puzzle. The biggest possession of the game was an offensive rebound vs. one of the best rebounding bigs in our league [in Domantas] Sabonis. It was super key and helped us win the game.”
Comparing the player Rui was when he came to the Lakers nearly two years ago to the one he is now shows how much he’s improved since coming to Los Angeles. Particularly this season, he’s taken large strides with his rebounding the easiest improvement to see.
And that improvement single-handedly secured the Lakers a big win on Saturday.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.
