LAS VEGAS — Bronny James finally got some shots to fall.
In perhaps his best performance yet in his five summer league games, the 19-year-old son of Lakers star LeBron James finished with 12 points as the Lakers rallied for an 87-86 victory over the Atlanta Hawks at Thomas & Mack Arena.
James made four of his first five shots, including his first 3-pointer of the summer on his 17th attempt. He finished 5 for 11 from the field and 2 for 5 from 3-point range, one of those shots tying the score with 3:47 left.
Second-year center Colin Castleton paced the Lakers (1-5 this summer, 1-2 in Las Vegas) with game-highs of 17 points, 12 rebounds and six assists, shooting 8 for 9 from the field in his 24 minutes. Blake Hinson added 14 points on 5-for-13 shooting (4 for 10 from 3-point range), while Maxwell Lewis, Armel Traore and Mohamed Diarra each added eight points. Sean East II had six points, five rebounds and six assists.
First-round draft pick Dalton Knecht, the SEC Player of the Year out of Tennessee, was held out by the team due to the volume of practices and games he had already played in over the past two weeks.
The Lakers trailed 72-63 entering the fourth quarter but they outscored the Hawks 24-14 in the final period. The Lakers took the lead for good at 84-81on a three-point play from Castleton with 2:21 left. The Hawks got back within one when Miles Norris made a 3-pointer with 34 seconds left, then regained possession on a Lakers turnover 10 seconds later, but the Hawks failed to get a shot off before time expired and the Lakers held on.
Jarkel Joiner (17 points, five rebounds, four assists) and Robert Baker Jr. (17 points) paced the Hawks (0-3).
James’ shooting was a significant improvement. He entered Wednesday’s game 7 for 31 from the field this summer and 4 for 19 in his two games at Las Vegas. He sat out one of the team’s three games at the California Classic in San Francisco.
For the summer, the No. 55 pick in this year’s draft is averaging 5.8 points, 3.2 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game on 29% shooting.
James averaged 4.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game last season in his lone year of college basketball at USC, appearing in the team’s final 25 games after going into cardiac arrest during a workout last summer.
The Lakers next face the Cleveland Cavaliers on Thursday at 6 p.m. PT.
