LOS ANGELES — LeBron James came onto the court about an hour before tip off Friday night in all black, grabbing a ball and quickly moving into a pregame workout with assistant Phil Handy.
He cut left and planted, effortlessly shooting his jumper, only briefly stopping to stomp his injured left ankle into the floor while he grimaced.
He missed consecutive threes and unloaded some rapid-fire curse words. He made his next shot.
James was ready to go.
James scored 38 points against the New Orleans Pelicans, with 21 points in the third quarter.
But a problem that’s plagued the Lakers all year — plenty of James and not enough of everything else — doomed the Lakers in their 114-111 at Crypto.com Arena. And James had just two points in the fourth quarter, airballing the potential game-tying shot at the final buzzer.
For just the 21st time this season, the Lakers would have their three biggest stars — James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook all on the floor for the most important game of the Lakers’ season.
Still, it wasn’t everyone. Carmelo Anthony missed the game with a non-COVID illness.
It was hope — something the Lakers have had very little of the season. And now they have even less.
Davis scored 23 in his first game back, though two misses down the stretch were met with buckets on the other end by New Orleans. And Westbrook’s 10 fourth-quarter points weren’t enough to make up for a rough first three quarters.
The loss puts the Lakers a full game behind San Antonio for 10th in the West, with the Spurs owning the tiebreaker. That means the Lakers need to win at least two more games than San Antonio over the final five games.
Davis, who hadn’t played since spraining his foot on Feb. 16, had been ramping up to return against the Pelicans all week – the natural time to return after being cleared for full contact work earlier in the week.
“I mean I believe it’s some good and some bad, in terms of sometimes it takes him some games to get his legs under him. And sometimes he hits the ground running,” Vogel said pregame. “I think it’s been a little bit of a mixed bag. And we’re in a situation where we need him to come back and play well — really well right out of the gate.”
Davis hit his first shot of the game.
James, though, was more of a surprise.
He badly rolled his ankle Sunday in New Orleans against the Pelicans, the injury clearly deflating the Lakers as they coughed up a 20-point-plus lead while James limped around the floor.
“When they ramped up their intensity, we got apprehensive knowing our leader was hobbled,” Vogel said. “You saw the result that you saw.”
James’ ankle had been progressing, but the team’s star sent a tweet that gave fans a quick shock.
“I’m out for the season officially,” James tweeted. “…See y’all in the fall.”
Any other day, it would’ve been reason to panic. But on April 1…
“I was told simultaneously that it was an April Fools before I actually got word of it. But I would have guessed it would have been an April Fools if I hadn’t been told it was an April Fools,” Vogel said. “…I got too much on my mind to say whether that’s funny or not.”
James’ importance to the Lakers is obvious – their mental state after losing him for the past two games even more proof. But what the Pelicans did against the Lakers earlier this week, coming back from down more than 20, foreshadowed that New Orleans wouldn’t be intimidated.
“We’ve got a resilient group,” New Orleans coach Willie Green said pregame. “…It was just another moment where we had to look each other in the eye and go out and do everything that we’re supposed to do.”
Friday, the Lakers desperately trying to keep pace with San Antonio, who waltzed to a win over Portland earlier in the night, the team opened the game by hitting 10 of its first 13 shots. Still, they led by just one, turnovers and suspect defense undoing any thrust from the Lakers being as close to whole as they’ve been in a while.
Both teams quickly cooled off, the game being played with the kind of tightness and urgency you’d expect for a game with serious postseason stakes.
But the Lakers, not the Pelicans, crumbled down the stretch.
After leading by as many as six in the fourth, the Lakers fumbled almost every chance down the stretch until an Avery Bradley three put them down one with 15.8 seconds left
They missed free throws. They turned the ball over. And they put themselves into a hole.
It’s where they’ve been for most of the season.
And even with everyone climbing, the Lakers probably won’t make it out.
