LeBron’s Historic Night (Once Again) Not Enough in Lakers Loss to Pistons

At this point in the season, it seems LeBron is doing all he can for the Lakers. The 39-year-old megastar is averaging nearly a triple double this year (23.2/8/9) and putting the team on his back game after game after game.

Still, as Los Angeles’ most recent loss to the Detroit Pistons shows, his efforts don’t seem to be enough. The Lakers are three games above .500 and firmly inside the playoff picture, but they need to win the easy ones if they want to be taken seriously. That’s not happening right now.

In typical fashion, James ended the night with a strong triple-double. He recorded 28 points, 11 rebounds, and 11 assists on 10-of-16 shooting. He also played strong defense, kept the Pistons off the rim, and bullied his defenders down the stretch.

Unfortunately, the Lakers still came up short in a tough 117-114 loss. They led at the half, but lost the last two quarters before falling right at the end. On paper, it’s just one loss. In reality, it’s indicative of much bigger issues the team needs to fix going forward.

Strong Starts, Weak Ends

The Lakers cannot seem to finish games right now. They come out fast, but start to falter as the quarters go on. That was the case against Detroit. After only being down two points at half time, they slowly started to slip away throughout the third and fourth.

They managed to rally in the last few minutes, but only did so when already being down 11. Their last ditch effort then fell flat when James slipped away from his defender, caught the ball beyond the arc, and missed a deep three at the buzzer.

Though it’s easy to blame him for the miss, the Lakers shouldn’t have been in that position to begin with. Los Angeles shot 54.1 percent from the field and 14-of-30 from 3, but still lost thanks to 20 turnovers that turned into 28 points for the opposing team.

There were several reasons for those mistakes, but it mainly came down to the fact that the Pistons played tough basketball and the Lakers didn’t. They ran their offense well, but couldn’t deal with Detroit’s physicality.

A Need to Toughen Up

If the Lakers have one problem this year, it’s a lack of toughness. Anthony Davis is having an MVP-style run, but he and James are the only ones who can truly body up down low. Everyone else seems to shy away from other teams getting big

That hasn’t been an issue during their wins, but it’s on display during losses like the one to the Pistons. It came to a head late in the game when Davis shoved Pistons’ big man Paul Reed to the floor after he aggressively boxed Davis out on an inbounds play. The act showed how much Detroit’s power got under the Lakers’ skin.

However, despite the move, James didn’t back down. He believes that being physical is just a part of the game, and something Los Angeles needs to work on going forward.

“You just got to match physicality with physicality,” the forward told reporters after the loss. “I can’t speak for nobody but myself when it comes to that. I’m a football player so I don’t mind physicality to be honest.”

Even if James doesn’t mind bumping around, he and Davis have both battled injuries this year. They might be able to bump and grind, but their health is something the team wants to monitor if they plan on making it to the postseason.

Yet Another Accolade

While the loss undoubtedly stings, the night wasn’t all bad for LeBron. Despite the loss, he walked away from the game just a little further entrenched in NBA history. The forward passed Derek FIsher to claim the number two spot on the Lakers all-time 3-pointers list after making a deep shot in the first quarter.

While James has only spent a small time with the Lakers, he now only trails Kobe Bryant for the most in franchise history. That’s a mark he will likely never hit (he’s more than 1000 behind the late-great) but it’s another addition to his already incredible resume.

He also recorded his eighth triple double of the year in the loss. He’s playing as good as he’s ever been, and doing it at an age never before seen in the league. Each time he steps onto the court it’s impressive, but the accolades won’t matter as much if the Lakers can’t get it together.

James already has arguably the best resume in NBA history. He has plenty of stats and records to his name. However, with retirement on the horizon he still doesn’t have a fifth ring. That’s something he wants to fix, and he’s doing his best. Time will tell if the Lakers can do their best as well.

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