In just over a week, the Los Angeles Lakers got LeBron James and Anthony Davis back on the floor after a weeks-long layoff. But both comebacks ended in defeats, contributing to the team’s poor run in April.
The 110-106 loss to the Sacramento Kings on Friday night, James’ first game since March 20, meant L.A. had dropped six of the previous eight games. The Lakers squandered a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter, letting Sacramento run away with a win.
But despite another disappointing night for the reigning NBA champions, Davis said it felt good to play beside his All-Star partner again. “Obviously he wasn’t himself, I’m pretty sure he told you guys that [laughs],” he said. “But it was good to just have him back on the floor, have his presence back on the floor.”
James ended the game with 16 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists. Davis pointed out the Lakers had a lot of adjustments to make with the four-time NBA champions back in the lineup. But he added the 36-year-old’s mere presence lifted the spirits in the locker room. “[W]e’re going to figure it out, it’s going to be fine, no one has their head down or kind of sad because we’re losing games or anything like that,” Davis said.
“We know we’re going to be fine, it’s an adjustment period, getting guys back, figuring roles out again and we got nine games left to try to get it going.”
Davis also predicted it won’t take long for James to get back to his old self. “It’s probably going to take him a couple games to get his legs back under him, a lot of his shots were short even though he made some, shots he usually makes were off tonight,” he said.
Davis: Lakers learned about James’ return from Twitter
Davis said James’ comeback took his Lakers teammates by surprise. The forward explained he got the news after waking up from his nap to a cryptic text message. “I found out when I think Montrezl [Harrell] sent a text in our group chat of like a whole bunch of people dancing and just a picture,” he said.
“He said ‘when I just saw that tweet’ and it was like a meme of everyone dancing and I didn’t know what he was talking about, I was sleeping in my nap so I woke up and I forgot who else posted the Woj tweet, so that’s when I found out.”
Davis added he didn’t believe James would play against the Kings until seeing him at Staples Center before the game.
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