The Los Angeles Lakers may be enduring a season of struggle, but LeBron James is playing close to peak form with another glittering performance on Monday night.
The 38-year-old is closing in on Karem Abdul-Jabbar's all-time scoring record and netted a season-high 48 points for the 20-24 Lakers in a 140-132 home win against the NBA's worst team, the Houston Rockets (10-34). James has passed the 40-point mark three times already since his 38th birthday less than three weeks ago and his stellar showings on the court are a big reason why the sub-500 Lakers remain in touch with the post-season picture.
The Lakers' rank among the worst in the NBA on defence and with Antony Davis still absent after a month out with a foot injury, their reliance on four-time MVP James is apparent when he is not on the court.
With just under four minutes remaining in the third quarter on Monday night at the Crypto.com Arena, James headed to the bench with the Lakers holding a comfortable 95-81 lead. But by the time the buzzer sounded for the end of the third, that advantage had been shaved to four points.
James reentered at the start of the fourth and within less than two minutes, the lead had swelled back to 13 points before pulling out a relatively comfortable victory, and that is just the latest example of his huge importance to his team, who sit 13th in the West after a three-game losing streak before Monday's win over the Rockets, who have lost 11 straight.
After playing 36 minutes the night after a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, James admitted the burden placed on him by the Lakers' shortcomings is taking its toll. "I was extremely exhausted today, extremely tired," he told ESPN. "Body was sore from the battle that we had yesterday versus Philly.
"I guess once I stepped on the floor for warmups and the crowd fills in, it's my job to go out and play the best way I can.
“I could have very easily taken tonight off, but our ballclub couldn’t use me taking a night off, I didn’t feel like I wanted to sit on that loss with Philly last night. I wanted to get that out of my taste buds and see if we could win a ballgame tonight. It was a complete team effort, and I just tried to make plays.”
James may be in the twilight of his iconic career, but he continues to play at an elite level, ranking sixth in the NBA with 29.7 points per game. He ranks ninth in minutes per game, too, highlighting the level at which the Lakers rely on him, which is much more than ideal for a 38-year-old that has been nursing a sore ankle for several weeks.
