March changed the complete trajectory of the Los Angeles Lakers season as LeBron James, Austin Reaves and Luka Doncic found a way to co-exist offensively. However, those vibes were short-lived as Doncic and Reaves are expected to miss the rest of the regular season with injuries, and perhaps longer.
Securing the third seed in a loaded Western Conference now becomes that much more difficult for the Lakers. James was blunt about his assessment, saying they cannot replace their MVP candidate, but everyone needs to pick up the slack in Doncic’s absence, via Law Murray of The Athletic:
“There’s no filling it,” James said of being without Dončić, in particular, on Saturday. “I mean, you got a guy who’s averaging (almost) 35, and eight (assists) and seven (rebounds), and doing the things that he’s doing. You don’t replace that or try to even fill that. I think it’s up to all of us, whoever’s in the lineup, to pick up our individual play and make plays together, figure out ways we can get stops, figure out ways we can get the ball moving from one side to the other side offensively. And then, keep the same keys— no turnovers, obviously. Limit teams’ fast-break points. Limit teams’ offensive rebounds. It’s a lot of keys that we still need to do in order for us to win.”
While it won’t be easy, James maintains that the Lakers can finish the season strong to earn the No. 3 seed going into the playoffs:
“It’s going to be a different game, obviously,” LeBron James said. “But our keys and our determination to win is still the same. We still have an opportunity to, I guess, get the three seed, I believe. So, we got to go out and win basketball games, and we’ve got some really good competition still.
“(Dallas) plays really extremely hard. … We know we got OKC (on Tuesday). We got Golden State (on Thursday), who’s still fighting. We got Phoenix (on Friday), who’s still fighting. It’s going to still be a little tough on us. You got to be ready for that.”
This unexpected shift in workload for the 41-year-old may prove to be too much, but there is a reason why he is viewed as perhaps the greatest player ever. Teammates will be looking at James to lead them through these murky waters, and hopefully the Lakers can find a way to manage until Doncic and Reaves return.
LeBron James: Lakers know what Thunder are capable of
The Lakers’ latest game against the Oklahoma City Thunder proved to be a truly damaging, humbling experience. They lost by 42 points while losing both Doncic and Reaves to injury.
In what was supposed to be a measuring stick game for L.A., Oklahoma City showed them that they are not on their level. But, James knew what the reigning champions were capable of, so he was not surprised by what transpired.
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