The Lakers avenged their recent road loss to the Pelicans with a win in L.A. on Wednesday night to get off a two-game losing skid and, at least briefly, right the ship in their quest for a playoff berth.
LeBron James had a typical monster performance, with 33 points, 10 assists, and six boards in the win, capping off the night with a dagger fadeaway three to seal the victory. While LeBron has looked like his normal self offensively, much like last year there are questions about his defensive effort and effectiveness this season.
Those questions have only been exacerbated after his groin injury, as his defensive impact has slipped fairly significantly since returning from that injury. James has insisted he’s going into playoff mode early this year, as the Lakers need a full LeBron effort just to claw their way to the postseason. There are still doubters, though, that he’ll be able to drag them there and his defense is a major reason why.
After the win over the Pelicans, Yahoo’s Chris Haynes asked LeBron about teams potentially trying to attack his defense, and, as one would expect, James was defiant and welcomed the challenge.
“I mean, every team has the right if they want to single me out defensively. Come on with it,” James told Yahoo Sports. “Hey, listen, come on with it. Every team has the right to be like, ‘Oh, ’Bron’s over there.’ Hey, just come on with it. … We’ll see what happens.”
James went on to say he’s motivated by the opportunity to get stops for the team and expects to perform when placed in those situations in crucial points. The problem with LeBron’s defense isn’t really in critical spots, though, it’s during the first, second, and third quarters where he appears to coast at times and save some energy for the offensive end (something he’s admitted to doing at times in the past). On this Lakers team, there’s not a ton of defensive support around him and, as such, L.A. can often find itself in a deep hole after the first half that isn’t always something they can dig themselves out of.
It would be silly to question whether James on a single play basis is still a capable defender. However, what will be a genuine test is whether he can keep intensity up at the level he tends to show in the postseason for the remainder of this regular season (and a possible playoff run). If not, L.A. may require more late game heroics than they can create to make it to the playoffs.
