L.A. fell to Sacramento, 134-120, on Wednesday.
18-time All-Star Los Angeles Lakers power forward LeBron James faced the music following a 134-120 defeat to the Sacramento Kings, opting to be relatively candid with reporters about his club’s shortcomings.
James had a solid night, notching 31 points on a fairly efficient 11-of-21 shooting (though he missed all his three-point tries), 11 rebounds and six assists. Every Laker starter scored in double digits, though the team’s bench couldn’t give it much firepower.
“We can lose some key guys and feel for the individual, but the competitive spirit should never go,” James said. “You should never lose the notion that you want to compete.”
“We’re already a team without a lot of length, not a lot of size,” James went on. “And you lose a 6’11” guy with a 7’6″ wingspan, 7’7″ wingspan” he added, alluding to the absence of L.A. All-NBA center Anthony Davis with a mysterious toe injury. “It’s self-explanatory, so it’s not like it’s rocket science.”
Behind Davis and James, the rest of the team’s healthy frontcourt rotation is comprised of 6’10” center Thomas Bryant, 6’11” big man Damian Jones, and 6’9″ power forward/center Wenyen Gabriel. Bryant has stepped up big-time in AD’s absence. He shot sparingly in the bout, but nevertheless was efficient, nabbing 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor, 10 rebounds, and four assists. Jones got just 6:11 of playing time, while Gabriel shot 3-of-7 from the field for seven points.
Across his past five games, James has averaged 32.4 points on 57% shooting from the field, 7.5 assists and 7.2 rebounds.
