At the heart of the fight for a place in the NBA play-off tournament, the Los Angeles Lakers could be temporarily deprived of LeBron James, injured in the ankle.
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James sprained his ankle in the first half in a 116-109 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday. Falling following the incident, however, he remained in the game. A move he seems to regret.
“I mean, I have no idea how I ended the game, to be honest, after watching that replay,” he told reporters after the game. It was pretty naughty.”
“It’s awful right now. And unfortunately, we are about to get on a plane. So, we will see day by day. But it’s pretty swollen right now.”
Fierce fight
The Lakers have lost two straight games and are currently 10th in the Western Conference, one game ahead of the San Antonio Spurs. The seventh to 10th ranked teams will be in the qualifying tournament, while the clubs behind will be eliminated.
It was kind of this close contest that motivated James to stay on.
“From the moment I twisted my ankle I felt a sharp pain down my leg. It started to heat up, he explained. But I didn’t want to get out of the game because I understood [l’importance de la rencontre]. I just wanted to win the game. I understood how important it was for us.”
James didn’t just make up the numbers despite the injury, as he totaled 39 points, nine rebounds and five assists in 42 minutes of play.
But without explosiveness, James was unable to help his team defend their 23-point lead at the half. A situation that worries head coach Frank Vogel.
“It hurts,” said the pilot. Time is running out for us. We went into this game with the appropriate sense of urgency, but we couldn’t finish the job.”
The Lakers still have eight games to play by the end of the season.
