Staff Reporter.
LeBron James says this NBA season is “definitely different” after the Los Angeles Lakers lost for the sixth time in eight games.
James scored 32 points but could not prevent the Lakers being beaten 123-95 by the New Orleans Pelicans.
“I don’t have answers for tonight. From the sixth minute point of the second quarter, through the third: no answers,” James said, about the period in the game where the momentum swung decisively towards the Pelicans.
“I played pretty badly tonight. I had some horrible turnovers, four of them were pretty bad. The other three were just bad connections. I could’ve been a lot better for sure.”
James is known as a man who can single-handedly inspire a team to championships and at the very least contending for one. The fact he has competed in ten NBA Finals, including eight consecutively is testament to that.
The Lakers will be getting nowhere near the end-of-season climax for a second competitive year. The most telling part of his stint talking to the press was he asserted that right now “it all starts out with getting a win” for the Lakers.
He then added: “This season is definitely different.”
For a serial winner like LeBron James that is no doubt true. With a stretch which includes the Dallas Mavericks, the Los Angeles Clippers, then the Golden State Warriors next as well as 10 road games in the month of March, the Lakers are going to need to try and find those answers. Fast.
CJ McCollum scored 22 points to lead six Pelicans scorers in double figures.
Asked how the Lakers can recover, James said: “It all starts with a win. You learn from that win, the things you did well and what you didn’t do well.”
On Friday, 37-year-old James – a four-time NBA champion and 18-time All-Star – dismissed reports he wanted to leave the underperforming Lakers.
James Harden continued the fine start to his Philadelphia 76ers career by posting a triple-double in his second game as his new team won 125-109 against the New York Knicks.
Harden, who moved from the Brooklyn Nets earlier this month, scored 29 points, 16 assists and 10 rebounds as the visiting 76ers pulled away late in the fourth quarter.
Five steals also meant he became the first player in 76ers history to finish with at least 25 points, 15 assists, five rebounds and five steals in a game.
Luka Doncic scored a game-high 34 points as the Dallas Mavericks wiped out a 19-point deficit in the fourth-quarter to clinch a shock 107-101 win over the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco.
Kelly Olynyk landed a 14-foot jumper at the buzzer to give the Detroit Pistons an overtime 127-126 victory at the Charlotte Hornets.