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LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers.
As the clock struck zero on the the Los Angeles Lakers‘ loss for the Kings of Sacramento March 6, LeBron James was already long gone. The damage had already been done during the final defeat 130-120.
Sacramento received a big game from the star point guard De’Aaron Foxwho finished with a game-high 44 points.
He scored 24 points in the second half as the Kings erased a 19-point Lakers lead in the first quarter.
“They have a lot of shots, they have a lot of space, and that allows De’Aaron to play up to 45, which is between the elbows,” James told reporters after the match on March 6. “His speed…not too many guys that can keep him in front of him. And he’s had our number for a while now. He’s playing exceptionally well against us, and tonight was another one of those nights.
Even with Fox’s outburst, James pointed the finger at his teammate Anthony Davis picking up a second questionable foul in the first quarter for the Lakers’ defensive downward spiral.
The whistle came with less than 90 seconds remaining in the frame.
“[The lead] evaporated when AD collected his second; it’s that simple,” James said. “When you have someone like that, who controls a lot of our defense, when he picked up his second one in the first quarter and we had to make the substitution, our defense kind of failed after that.”
Los Angeles then held a 37-19 lead. But the Kings used a 9-0 run to close the first quarter and a 31-11 run overall to take the lead just under six minutes before halftime.
LeBron James dumps former teammate after costly loss to Kings
Los Angeles was behind by 14 points when James went out, with the 21st-year superstar dropping his former Lakers teammate Malik Monk as the main reason.
“They pace, they pace. They made a penny, we made a penny. Monk Malik arrived, had a big impact. David Mitchell made a big impact when they arrived, and they changed the game in a complete 180.
“I mean, I made all three, we came back, we had great defensive possession. Malik made a three at the end of the clock, we go back down, I hit Jax [Jaxson Hayes] with a pocket pass – I thought it was just a natural move on his part – calling an offensive foul, the challenge. So now down 15.
“I thought if we could have stopped that stoppage, maybe cut it below 10 at that point, we could have used that momentum a little bit more. But these are a few pieces that definitely affected us.
LeBron James Clears the Air in Early Release
James left the game with about five minutes remaining, returning to the Lakers locker room. This isn’t the first time James has left the field early, especially after a costly loss like this. But the 20-time All-Star shed light on the reasoning behind this specific case.
“Everything will be fine,” James said.
“It was right my ankle“, James continued. That was exactly what I was – what I was dealing with before the break, after the break. I’m just coping the best I can. I played the whole third. I got through sat down for a bit to start the fourth. And when I got home, it was kind of [flared up], never mind. It’s just something I’ve just been dealing with.
“Some games are better than others. I didn’t feel it at all compared to OKAY. And I didn’t feel it at all in the fourth quarter tonight. So it’s just every game, every day is different.
Josh Buckhalter covers the NBA and NFL for Heavy.com with a focus on the Chicago Bulls, Los Angeles Lakers and Minnesota Vikings. He has covered the NBA and NFL since 2016, including on FanSided, Last Word on Sports and Clocker Sports. He is based in Villa Park, Illinois. Follow Josh on Twitter and Instagram: @JoshGBuck Learn more about Josh Buckhalter
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