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LeBron James commented on the Los Angeles Lakers' official elimination of the playoff race, saying the team's tough season was "not what we committed to".
Friday night scores
- Oklahoma City Thunder 116-109 Toronto Raptors
- San Antonio Spurs 105-111 Houston Rockets
- Miami Heat 87-116 Milwaukee Bucks
- Brooklyn Nets 111-106 Los Angeles Lakers
- Denver Nuggets 111-93 New York Knicks
- Los Angeles Clippers 110-108 Cleveland Cavaliers
- Memphis Grizzlies 119-123 Orlando Magic (OT)
The Lakers (31-41) will miss the playoffs for a sixth consecutive season of franchise records, even with James, who fell just ahead of his 81st career triple-double with 25 points, 14 badists and 9 rebounds.
The Lakers had missed the series only five times in 55 seasons of existence before the current drought.
"It was a tough season for all of us," said James. "That's not what we signed up for.
"Throughout the year, things happen. Suspensions, injuries and we just can not play sustainable basketball for 48 minutes.
"You do not even try to get in your head, you just keep playing and trying to get better and go from there."
Goalkeeper Angelo Russell has not taken any public pleasure to play a big enough role in eliminating the Lakers from the playoff race for a season yet.
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Highlights of the Los Angeles Lakers' 111-106 loss to the Brooklyn Nets, putting an end to their hopes of losing the playoffs
Russell is much more excited about the increasing likelihood that he will make his series debut with the Brooklyn Nets.
Russell, who was drafted by the Lakers in 2015 and traded two years later, added 21 points and 13 badists against his former team to help the Nets improve to 38-36 for the season.
Russell had seven points and three badists in the fourth quarter while Brooklyn was good for the win. He hit two big three points in the stretch, and he raised his finger to his lips to silence his old fans in the Staples Center crowd.
But Russell said it was nothing personal and that he did not think too much about putting the last nail in the hopes of the Lakers in the playoffs.
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Kyle Kuzma beat the halfcourt buzzer when the Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Brooklyn Nets
"It sounds good on paper, but in the end we do not play it," said Russell. "We are not competing with them for seeding, so victory is enough."
Russell was appreciated by Lakers supporters but not by Magic Johnson, who had thrown him into a business to get rid of Timofey Mozgov's burdensome contract just months after the Hall of Fame resumed basketball activities. Lakers.
"That's really where I started," said Russell, who has already acknowledged being upset by Magic's comments on his leadership. "It's really a place that gave me an opportunity, not many guys started somewhere and it's been forgotten throughout their careers, you know, Chauncey Billups, the (Steve) Nash of this band, 'try to think of me as one of those guys.'
Russell became a star player in Brooklyn, while the Lakers remained at about the same place in the standings despite adding James last summer.
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