It is already difficult for the Los Angeles Lakers to string together wins without star big man Anthony Davis, but when news came out that LeBron James would miss the team’s contest against Miami Heat, the odds became even smaller.
But thanks to Dennis Schroder and Russell Westbrook, the Lakers were able to come away with a 112-109 victory over Heat, their third consecutive win. But even though LeBron wasn’t on the bench as he was dealing with illness, he was still completely locked in with his team every step of the way.
James was on Twitter down the stretch of the contest, arguing calls, begging for defensive stops and praising his teammates as even a sick LeBron James cares only about the Lakers getting a victory:
Man that’s a CHARGE!!!! ??
— LeBron James (@KingJames) January 5, 2023
MENANCE!!!!!!
— LeBron James (@KingJames) January 5, 2023
1 ?
— LeBron James (@KingJames) January 5, 2023
The first tweet was all about a close play late in the game in which Austin Reaves was called for a block on a drive from Heat guard Victor Oladipo. It was a close play with Reaves seemingly beating Oladipo to the spot and taking the shot from Oladipo straight to the chest. The Lakers challenged the call, but ultimately it was upheld.
The ensuing tweet was all about Dennis Schroder, whom LeBron has continually referred to as ‘Dennis the Menace’ since the point guard’s first stint with the Lakers. Following that foul call on Reaves, it was Schroder attacking the basket for the huge layup to give the Lakers a bit of a cushion. James then begged the Lakers to get one more stop to ice the game.
They didn’t quite do it on that next possession, but on the last possession got the stop they needed to leave Crypto.com Arena with a victory. There is no doubt that even feeling ill at home, LeBron was hyped at the Lakers pulling out a huge home win.
Lakers’ LeBron James leads NBA in first All-Star voting returns
In what should come as little surprise, it is James who leads all vote-getters after the first All-Star ballot returns. The Lakers star currently holds a narrow lead over Kevin Durant in overall votes and is around 450,000 votes ahead of Stephen Curry for the top spot in the West.
His Lakers teammate Anthony Davis currently ranks third in Western Conference frontcourt voting, putting him in line to start while guards Russell Westbrook and Austin Reaves both made the top 10 in the West backcourt.
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