In an NBA regular season game that ended today, the Los Angeles Lakers lost 116-125 to the Sacramento Kings, and suffered a losing game on the road.
In this game, James played 39 minutes, shooting 13-of-29, 3-of-12 from three-point range, 5-of-10 from the free throw line, and had 34 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists. After this game, according to US media statistics, in the past 12 games, James has scored 30+ in 11 games, only 26 points against the Timberwolves on January 3, plus these 11 games 30+, James has scored 30+ games this season to 19 games, leading the league. Counting this game, James has scored 25+ points in 12 consecutive games, becoming the first player in the Lakers to complete this achievement since Kobe Bryant in 2013 (17 consecutive games).
In addition, James's unlocked achievements in this game include: the total number of shots in the regular season of his career, surpassing Kobe Bryant and Malone to rise to the second place in history, second only to Abdul-Jabbar; this season, there have been 9 times to cut 30+ points but lost, ranking first in the league; after the age of 36, a total of 28 times cut 30+ points to rank third in the league, second only to second-place Malone and Abdul-Jabbar.
I have to say that James is really too strong to be the first person in the league. Counting the Christmas wars, in the last 9 games, James can average 34.3 points per game, leading the league. In the last 9 games of James's center as the team's center, James led the team to a 5-4 result, if the loss to the Grizzlies is understandable, after all, people are in third place in the West, but today's loss to the Eleventh Kings of the West is really a bit unreasonable.
One of the most important reasons for the Lakers' loss in this game is that their interior line was washed away by their opponents. According to statistics, the King's interior score is as high as 70 points, while the Lakers only have 42 points, and the Kings' inner line is 28 points more than the Lakers, which can be said to have completed the Lakers' inner line.
Lakers coach Vogel's operation has always been very difficult for fans to understand, that is, he has been unwilling to reuse Howard, this game Howard played 15 minutes, 3 shots, got 8 points and 7 rebounds (including 4 offensive rebounds), a net win of 9 points. But Vogel only let Howard play for 15 minutes, and even in this game, he was in good shape and could play well, and he still didn't give Howard enough playing time.
Vogel gives people the feeling that the combination of Westbrook + James, let James play the No. 5 position, if Howard and the two appear on the court at the same time, then the Lakers have at least 2 points on the court that cannot open up space, and the problems on the offensive end will be infinitely magnified, so Vogel chose to sacrifice Howard's playing time and abandon Howard.
But the problem with the Lakers is that James should not have played center, or James should not have played center for a long time, and Vogel made James the fifth position on the team to help Westbrook integrate into the team. But now that James is in the twilight of his career, if the Lakers need the 37-year-old man to stand up and score 30+ points every game, then this season's Lakers championship will become a piece of paper.