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Cole Swider, Bronny James drive summer Lakers to win over Heat

Cole Swider, Bronny James drive summer Lakers to win over Heat

USA Today07-07-2025
BRONNY JAMES WITH THE HUGE THROWDOWN 😮‍💨MIA-LAL | California Classic on NBA TV pic.twitter.com/D9ctrSHfgn
Forward Cole Swider may have had trouble sticking around at the NBA level ever since going undrafted out of Syracuse University three years ago. But he sure can light it up from the outside.
On Saturday, he was hot in the Los Angeles Lakers' first game of the California Classic with 24 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field and 6-of-8 from 3-point range. The Lakers lost that game to the Golden State Warriors, 89-84, and they took the court again on Sunday versus the Miami Heat.
On Sunday, Swider again shot 7-of-10 overall from the field, giving him 20 points. But this time, L.A. prevailed, 103-83.
Unfortunately, Dalton Knecht had another poor game by making just two of his seven shot attempts and scoring only four points. On Saturday, he was 3-of-13 from the field and 0-of-6 from downtown.
Bronny James didn't play versus Golden State, but he was in uniform on Sunday. He went 3-of-7 overall and 2-of-5 from beyond the arc, and he finished with 10 points, two rebounds, one steal and no turnovers in 11 minutes.
He provided the highlight of the day by throwing down a thunderous dunk roughly 30 seconds into the game.
The Lakers' next game will be on Tuesday versus the San Antonio Spurs. After that, they will make their way to Las Vegas for the NBA's main summer league, which starts on Thursday.
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