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NEW ORLEANS – A 128-115 loss to Anthony Davis, less New Orleans Pelicans, forced LeBron James to question whether his Los Angeles Lakers teammates had the necessary experience to take on the challenge and help the franchise to qualify for the six-year playoffs.
"How many know what is at stake if you have never been there?" James asked Saturday after L.A. lost up to 20 points to a pelican team that rested Davis and went into the evening eight games under .500.
"I make myself the devil's advocate, you know, it's a bit of a fine line when you talk about that, because when you're never there or you know what's going on, it takes to shoot for something like that, sometimes you are afraid of being uncomfortable.
"So you have to be comfortable with being uncomfortable, so I'm not saying that's what we are as a whole. this sometimes, that we are sometimes afraid of being uncomfortable and getting out of our comfort zone and the kind of, you know, have that sense of urgency of the jump, and do not have not afraid to go out and not succeed, so I mean we have what, there are twenty-three games left to play, we'll see what happens. "
This Lakers win was a welcome relief after the drama that consumed the team.
Pelicans star Anthony Davis did not play against the Lakers on Saturday, but his coach Alvin Gentry said the decision was not made because the team was facing Los Angeles.
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The loss to New Orleans occurred the same evening as the Sacramento Kings beat the Oklahoma City Thunder, leaving the 29-30 Lakers two games behind the Kings for 9th place in the Western Conference and 3½ games at LA Clippers and San Antonio. Spurs, currently occupying the last two playoff spots in the West.
James has competed in the NBA finals over the past eight years and in the playoffs over the past 13 years, having failed in the playoffs in each of his first two seasons in the league. He has played 239 playoff games in his career. If you add up all the playoff experience of the other 11 Lakers to see the court on Saturday, they played 289 games in the playoffs, including five – Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, Moe Wagner and Alex Caruso – n & rsquo; Having never been there at all.
"In recent years, everyone is so used to the losses I'm just not used to," said James. "I'm not used to that, I'll never feel comfortable losing, so losing the first game against Houston [at home]I feel the same as losing Game 59 in New Orleans. It's just how I am built. That's who I am. "
James's message echoed his feelings during the first season of his second trip with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2014-15, when he contested the "bad habits" of their teammates Kyrie Irving and Dion Waiters, who at the time had never played in the playoffs. .
However, James made these comments in November of this season. It's now late February. James admitted that he was expecting a learning curve with the Lakers. He just did not expect this curve to continue so long in the season.
"I knew it would be very difficult," said James. "Just because of the roster experience at that time and at that time, I knew it was going to be difficult, but I thought we could still play basketball better, and we were doing it and of course it sucked my injury. arrived and [Lonzo Ball’s] an injury has occurred and so many of our injuries have occurred. "
The serious sprained Ball's left ankle in mid-January coincided with the complete demise of the Lakers defense. According to data compiled by ESPN Stats & Information, L.A. has now allocated at least 115 points in nine straight games on the road, tied for the franchise's longest-ever series.
Rajon Rondo said that the team's defense was the Lakers' main problem, followed by the need to "play for each other" more often.
"We have no other choice," Rondo said of the defense. "We do it or we do not do it, we do it, we do the series and stay with that mindset if we do it, and if we play in the playoffs, we can easily be swept in four games. So we have to start buying scouting report and start buying from each other and start playing for each other a lot more. "
The Pelicans did just that with Davis, getting big nights out of Jrue Holiday (27 points and 7 assists), former Laker Julius Randle (24 points and 5 assists), Elfrid Payton (14 points and 9 assists) and Cheick Diallo 8-in-8 in 19 minutes off the bench, amassing 18 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks. The Lakers of course helped New Orleans with 23 turnovers.
Kuzma, who said Thursday how much of James's defensive effort in Houston's return to the Houston in the second half might have made another allusion to James on Saturday when he was asked if he was questioning the ability of the team to support the match. postseason.
"I just think we have to be consistent," he said. "We have to be consistent with everything, we have to be consistent with our bodily languages, our efforts, and overall we are just not consistent."
L.A. will complete his two-game trip to Memphis on Monday before returning home to welcome the Pelicans on Wednesday.
"I'm so fond of chemistry and camaraderie and injuries all season long … [they] James said: "So I hope we can get Zo back for help soon, and I hope we can start playing a little better too."
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