A car can’t run without its engine. The Los Angeles Lakers have lost three games in a row without their engine.
LeBron James went on a dominant scoring stretch lasting over 18 consecutive games before the injury bug bit him again. This time, left knee soreness has sidelined James.
Los Angeles’ recent loss came at the hands of the Atlanta Hawks, who came back from down 11 in the fourth quarter to win.
Malik Monk, who scored 33 points in the game, discussed the impact of not having James on the court.
“Yeah, y’all know exactly how it is. He’s just LeBron, man. And like you said, he’s out there orchestrating everything for us. He’s missed. He’s missed tremendously. But that’s our job: To figure out how to play without him because we’re not always gonna have him,” Monk said. “We might be down somebody at all times, so you never know. But yeah, he’s missed tremendously.”
Los Angeles just concluded a six-game road trip and will not have to worry about traveling far without LeBron. The next road games are in mid-February against the Portland Trail Blazers and Golden State Warriors. The Lakers need to use these home games to build some momentum because time is starting to creep up on L.A.’s championship hopes.
Whether they can do that without LeBron is something to watch for.
