The Los Angeles Lakers have been without LeBron James a lot more this NBA season than they want to be. The superstar forward has played in only 22 of the team’s 34 games, but when he has been on the court, he looks as dominant as ever.
Despite him turning 37-years old later this week, James has been a force this season. He is averaging 27.4 points, 6.8 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 1.7 steals and one block in 37 minutes per game.
Los Angeles has not been able to get on track this season despite his great play. He has turned things up recently in hopes of helping the team turn things around. He has scored 30+ points in seven of 11 games this month and 10 of the last 14 games he has played.
Since Anthony Davis went down with a knee sprain on December 17th, James has kicked it into high gear. In the four games without Davis, James is averaging 35 points, 9.8 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.3 blocks and 1.8 steals in 37 minutes per game.
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Despite his heroics, the Lakers have gone 0-4 during that span. While he is playing at a high level, the team still struggles to stay afloat when he is off the court. Part of that comes down to coaching.
David Fizdale has been coaching the team since head coach Frank Vogel went into protocols on December 19th. Fizdale has seen James performing at levels like this previously, as they spent time with the Miami Heat together.
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Fizdale bemoans not being able to make the most of his recent stretch of play. Losing is something he feels bad about.
“I’m kicking myself in the head because he’s giving me incredible effort,” Fizdale said of James. “Trying to figure out ways to get him over the hump with that effort, and I hate that it’s wasted on losses. Just spectacular. And I hate that it’s wasted on losses.
“But to watch it, to be a part of it, even though those games are turning into L’s, I’ve never seen anything like this guy. And we better sure as hell be thanking our lucky stars for this guy.”
Not having Anthony Davis in the lineup is a detriment to the team, but when James is playing as well as he has been, you need to win some games. His teammates need to step up and help win some games as there isn’t much more he can do on either end of the floor.
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The Los Angeles Lakers have some winnable games on the horizon and need to take advantage. They need to take advantage and beat the teams with losing records that they are facing off against.
The Western Conference being watered down this season is helping Los Angeles, as they are 16-18 but still in seventh place. So, the opportunity is there to play themselves out of the NBA Play-In Tournament and into a top-six seed.
