Even though the Los Angeles Lakers’ season hasn’t gotten off to the start they had hoped, currently sitting at 14-13, there is always hope that any team with LeBron James on it can turn it around.
James has only appeared in 15 of the Lakers’ 27 games due to a number of ailments and circumstances, which he admitted has messed with his rhythm as he has yet to play in five consecutive games this season.
Even without a consistent rhythm though, James has still been his usual great self as he is averaging 26.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, 6.9 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game on the season with the Lakers going 9-6 in games he has played.
He turned in one of his best performances of the season in Friday night’s win over the Oklahoma City Thunder, scoring 33 points on an efficient 13-of-20 shooting to go along with five rebounds, six assists, three steals and two blocks.
After the game, James stated that he believes improved health is the main reason for his strong two-way play.
“For me personally, I’m just getting healthier and healthier every day,” James said. “Obviously, my injury played a big part of me getting out of game shape. The dynamics of how I move, how I play left me kind of hampered at times not to be full stride and things of that nature. I’m able to see plays before they happen, but not be able to actually make them.
“As I continue to get stronger and stronger, my injury continues to get closer and closer to 100 percent. I’m able to go out there and do a lot of things I’ve been able to do over the course of my career that benefits our team. I’m happy the way I’m feeling as of late.”
Frank Vogel also had high praise for LeBron’s performance in leading the Lakers to a blowout victory.
“He was unbelievable tonight. I shouldn’t say it surprises me, but it’s just incredible for him to play at such a high level to perform the way he did tonight. Not only just with his shot-making, his playmaking, his will to take a tough loss last night and say that’s not going to happen again.
“The two losses we had against OKC where we built big leads and let them get back in it, he wasn’t going to let that happen again tonight. Just a great performance by Bron tonight.”
Hearing that James is feeling healthy is obviously good news for the Lakers as they are gonna need him at peak form to get back into championship contention, especially with how many other injuries the team has been forced to deal with.
Vogel unsure of severity of Davis’ knee injury
One of those players dealing with an ailment is Anthony Davis as the star big man missed the game against the Thunder due to left knee soreness. Vogel is still not sure how severe the injury is, so James may be forced to continue his extremely high level of play in Davis’ absence.
“I don’t really know what the next steps are,” Vogel said. “The medical team just said we want to find out exactly what it is before we put him out there, so they’re going to hold him out for tonight’s game, but I don’t know the exact next steps.”
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