In the playoffs, the Lakers defeated the Pelicans 110-106 on the road to enter the playoffs in the top 8 of the playoffs in the 7th place in the West, and they will face the defending champion Nuggets in the next quarterfinals. In this game, James got a quasi-triple-double of 23 points, 9 rebounds and 9 assists, Davis had a double-double of 20 points and 15 rebounds, and Zion Williams of the Pelicans scored 40 points and 11 rebounds, and they will compete with the Kings for the last playoff spot in the West.
After the victory over the Pelicans, the Lakers will face a formidable opponent, the defending champion Nuggets. In last year's playoffs, the Lakers were the 7th in the West and defeated the Timberwolves, Grizzlies and Warriors, but they were swept by the Nuggets 0-4 in the Western Conference finals, and they faced the Nuggets directly in the first round of this year's playoffs. The difference in strength between the Lakers and the Nuggets is huge, which is a fact that everyone knows, this season's regular season Nuggets are 57-25 and ranked 2nd in the West, while the Lakers are only 47-35 and 8th in the West, and the two teams are not on the same level at all. The Nuggets won all three of the three times they met in the regular season this season, and if you count last season's playoffs, the Nuggets won at least seven in a row against the Lakers, which has a great psychological deterrent effect on the Lakers players.
In the 2020 playoffs Western Conference Finals, the Lakers defeated the Nuggets 4-1 and eventually won the championship that year. But at that time, the Lakers had a lot of interior players in order to deal with Jokic, a big center, in addition to Davis, there were Howard, Morris, McGee, etc., who took turns to play against Jokic, and finally beat the Nuggets with the excellent play of James and thick eyebrows. Now that the Lakers only have Davis on the inside, it is unrealistic for him to play against Jokic alone, and Russell, an outside player, is not capable of defending Murray, so the Lakers are likely to be swept or 4-1 out like last year's Western Conference Finals.
This season's Lakers lineup can only be described as average, except for James and Davis, the two core main players, the other players are mediocre, and it is James who brings them into the playoffs and into heights that do not belong to them. This season, the Lakers hesitated many times in the window of reinforcement and gave up a lot of reinforcement opportunities, maybe the Lakers' management thought that even if they were reinforcements, they did not have the strength to compete for the championship, so they gave up this season directly. After all, James is a year older and less dominant on the court, and it is almost impossible for the Lakers to go far in the playoffs with Davis or other players alone.
James has been with the Lakers for 6 years and has led the Lakers to the playoffs 4 times, winning 1 of them. Although the Lakers sacrificed a lot of young players for this championship, it was also worth it, after all, some teams have not had a chance to win a championship after so many years in the NBA league. The Lakers' exchange of young players for Davis can help them win championships, which may affect their development period for several years, and winning a championship alone is not a loss.
James' stats this season are his best year since joining the Lakers, with the most appearances (71), minutes (2,502 minutes) and total points (1,822) all set new highs in the last six seasons. Regardless of whether the Lakers can win the championship or not, having James in him is the guarantee of the team's box office, and it can also keep the team hot, and the Lakers will not lose money, which is the meaning of the Lakers who have been giving James a top salary.