The Los Angeles Lakers got off to a winning start after the All-Star break, beating the Los Angeles Clippers 125-122 at Crypto.com Arena on Friday. LeBron James‘ status was in doubt for this game due to left knee soreness, but he ended up playing, and head coach JJ Redick revealed in his press conference that it wasn’t the only issue he was dealing with.
“He fought through a lot today,” Redick said. “I mean, the knee soreness, he probably doesn’t want me to share, but he was dealing with a migraine as well pregame. Again, he rings the bell over and over. It’s what he does.”
The Lakers were expected to be fully healthy after the break, but James then appeared on the injury report with this knee issue hours before the game. The 41-year-old was a game-time decision and eventually decided to play.
All seemed well at the start, with James scoring seven points in the first quarter, but he struggled as the game went on. The 22-time All-Star had some uncharacteristic misses and would finish with just 13 points (5-13 FG), three rebounds, 11 assists, and one steal against the Clippers.
James made a notable blunder late in this game as well. He was tasked with inbounding the ball with them up 125-122, and turned it over. Nicolas Batum stole the ball and had a chance to tie the game and send it to overtime, but he missed. Had the Lakers ended up losing here, questions would have undoubtedly been asked about whether Redick should have kept James in the game.
James was asked about Redick’s comments in his postgame media session and revealed when he suffered this knee problem.
“I mean, it happened at practice yesterday during our scrimmage,” James said. “Went up for a dunk, came down pretty good, but a couple of minutes into the scrimmage after that, it started getting a little sore and started getting a little tight. And yeah, that’s what happened.”
A rough outing for James on a night where the Clippers shot 54.8% from the field might have doomed the Lakers, but a certain Luka Doncic stepped up. Doncic finished with 38 points (11-25 FG), six rebounds, 11 assists, three steals, and one block.
Austin Reaves provided Doncic with some much-needed support by chipping in with 29 points (9-15 FG), six rebounds, two assists, and two steals. The fact that the Lakers have three players who are capable of getting to 30 points a night is what makes them so dangerous. One or even two of them can have off nights, but the third can carry them to victory.
The Lakers improved to 34-21 with this win over the Clippers. In the process, they also ended up avoiding losing the season series, as the Clippers were up 2-1 coming into this clash.
The Lakers have now returned to fifth in the West and will be in action next against the Boston Celtics at Crypto.com Arena on Sunday at 6:30 PM ET. The Celtics had blown them out 126-105 when the teams met earlier in the season, but neither James nor Doncic played that night. It might be a different story now with these two being back in the lineup.
