One night after sitting out a game against the Brooklyn Nets due to left foot soreness, LeBron James returned to game action when the Los Angeles Lakers played against the New York Knicks on Tuesday.
He had a triple-double with 28 points, 10 rebounds and 11 assists as the Lakers won in overtime. Regarding the injury, he said that his left foot feels different on a daily basis as far as pain is concerned.
LeBron James said the soreness in his left foot varies “day to day” and it’s just about managing the pain.
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) February 1, 2023
James’ shooting percentages against the Knicks were somewhat subpar, but he came through enough in crunch time in order to claim a win the Lakers really needed.
The team had started its five-game road trip with losses to the Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets, and at this point of the season, each loss is magnified.
With the victory over New York, the Lakers improved to 24-28 on the season, but they’re still in 13th place in the conference. On the other hand, they’re only two games out of the 10th spot in the Western Conference and three games behind the Golden State Warriors, who are in fifth place.
While the Lakers are fighting to get into the playoff picture, the immediate spotlight is more focused on James’ pursuit of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time career scoring record.
He is 89 points away from surpassing Abdul-Jabbar, and it looks very likely he will do so either on Feb. 7 against the Oklahoma City Thunder or Feb. 9 versus the Milwaukee Bucks, both of which will be home games for L.A.
James also moved into fourth place on the NBA’s all-time career assists list on Tuesday, surpassing Mark Jackson and Steve Nash.
https://twitter.com/BradeauxNBA/status/1620625700092022784
As amazing as breaking Abdul-Jabbar’s record would be, the most important thing to him and the Lakers is winning.
He has made it clear that he’s only playing for championships at this point of his career, and Lakers owner Jeanie Buss said she understands that he isn’t happy right now since the team isn’t a title contender.
