We will end up believing that sharing the floor with LeBron does him good. Guerschon Yabusele had not encountered “King James” since the final of the Olympic Games, where France narrowly lost to Team USA. Yabusele, for his part, emerged victorious, at the cost of a dunk on the American star which toured the world and allowed him to win a second chance in the NBA.
Three months later, the two strong wingers met again last night during Philadelphia’s defeat in Los Angeles (116-106), without a real duel this time. They rarely found themselves face to face, except at the very start of the match when LeBron James went to the basket to dunk, Yabusele chose not to contest, and LeBron, no doubt surprised, did not score… But the rest of the match, the Frenchman shone: he once again made his personal alloy of precision and power speak, in a style that only resembles him.
Yabusele took advantage of every minute given to him by his coach Nick Nurse: replacing at the start of the game as in every meeting this season, the Frenchman scored 14 points in 23 minutes on the floor. Above all, he showed himself to be diabolically precise, succeeding in three of his four three-point attempts, including one… from a long distance at the very end of the third quarter, at the buzzer. He finished the game with an 83% success rate, and also totaled 5 rebounds, an interception and a block. A balance sheet which does not tell the full impact of the Frenchman, the only player on his team to post a positive balance sheet (+5), while the 76ers took on water most of the match.
On their social networks, the 76ers made no mistake: they chose a photo of the Frenchman to accompany the score of the match. Already, during the game, the account fans are demanding that the player now be the starter!
The international tricolor seems to be seriously making his mark in the NBA. A few days earlier, Yabusele had already shone during a defeat against the Phoenix Suns. He scored 19 points, grabbed 7 rebounds and delivered 6 assists, showing how complete he can be and his range is wide.
Opposite, LeBron James also performed very well, achieving a triple-double (21 points, 12 rebounds, 13 assists). Well surrounded by Anthony Davis (31 points) and Austin Reaves (20), the best scorer in NBA history is not turning 40, which he will be very soon, in December! Looking forward to the end of January and the next confrontation between the two teams.