On a night in which LeBron James registered his first triple-double of the season and moved into fourth place on the NBA's all-time assist leaderboard, the performance that may have greater implications for the Los Angeles Lakers' longterm prospects was Rui Hachimura's.

Just over a week after the Los Angeles Lakers acquired Hachimura for Kendrick Nunn and future second-round picks, he scored 19 points and was plus-4 in L.A.'s 129-123 win over the New York Knicks.

The victory in Madison Square Garden moved the Lakers to within four games of a .500 record and within two games of the play-in tournament. And it offered a glimpse of how Hachimura changes the geometry of the floor for L.A.

Throughout his increasingly legendary career, LeBron has found success as perhaps the most dangerous slash-and-kick weapon we've ever seen. Even in his 20th NBA season, LeBron can break the seal of a perimeter defense in a way few can. And once he's inside, he has the size, vision and strength to hit the best option on a kickout.

Of course, that assumes good options are on the floor with LeBron. And that just hasn't been the case for long stretches of this campaign.