The Los Angeles Lakers finally had a healthy roster against the Chicago Bulls, although the result wasn’t pretty as they were blown out on their home floor.
While JJ Redick was willing to give his team some grace since key players were just returning from injury, time is not exactly on the Lakers’ side as they only have 12 regular season games remaining to build chemistry and continuity ahead of the playoffs.
That’s not to mention that the Western Conference standings are very tight, so every game is important for the Lakers as they look to earn the highest seed possible. Despite that though, LeBron James knows the Lakers control their own destiny and stressed the importance of playing well down the stretch.
“Obviously we can’t take for granted the moments we get out there and are able to play the game that we love and play it at a high level,” James said after the Bulls loss. “So just holding each other accountable, pouring into the team [and] pouring energy into the team. That’s what’s most important. Like you said, we have 12 games to position ourselves in the postseason. We pretty much can control our own destiny if we win ball games and not have to be in the Play-In [Tournament]. So that’s what JJ [Redick] has been preaching, obviously. I think he told that to you guys. He wanted to be in the playoffs and not the Play-In [Tournament]. So that’s up to us.”
The Lakers begin a four-game road trip on Monday against the Orlando Magic, which James views as a great opportunity to get back on track.
“Yeah, for sure, every game is huge for sure. And we gotta recoup,” LeBron added. “Obviously, on our last road trip, we didn’t play well at all. We went 0-4, so it’s definitely in the back of our minds. We know on Monday, we gotta play better basketball than we did tonight and what we did on our last road trip.”
The Lakers haven’t been a great road team this year but if they want to clinch home-court advantage for a round or two in the playoffs, they will have to play well away from L.A. down the stretch of the regular season.
LeBron James admitted to feeling rusty in return to Lakers
Saturday’s loss to the Bulls marked LeBron James’ first game in a couple of weeks after missing time with a groin strain. Naturally, James admitted to feeling a little rusty in his return to action.
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