“It is what it is” – LeBron James on LA Lakers’ potentially ending up in the play-in tournament
LeBron James was focussed on the positives after the LA Lakers lost to the LA Clippers 125-118.
The Lakers had a chance of moving up to the fifth seed and displace the Golden State Warriors as well. However, the Clippers ended up becoming the team who grabbed fifth seed for the time being, leaving LeBron James and company in seventh position.
The Lakers have a 41-39 record and are seemingly headed to the Play-in tournament as things stand. They still have a chance of automatic qualification and will come up against the Phoenix Suns next. The Suns have been on a roll since Kevin Durant returned from injury and will most likely be difficult opponents.
LeBron James, when asked about the Lakers’ being in a Play-in qualification spot, seemed optimistic about their chances:
“Ah, I mean, listen, it is what it is,” James said. “Wherever we end up, that’s where we end up. It’s been like four or five seasons in one for us. We don’t have the luxury of saying, ‘This is what we need to do. This is where we’re gonna be.”
LeBron staring down Russ and the Clippers bench after getting an and-1 down 16 https://t.co/NFhWIOjffd
He added:
“We need to still continue to play good basketball. We got another game on Friday versus a very good team. Then we end the season on Sunday versus Utah. We’ll see what happens. We’ll see. Wherever we fall, we’ll be ready to go.”
LA Lakers and LeBron James have plenty of positives from Clippers loss
LeBron James also claimed that there were plenty of positives to focus on from the LA Clippers game. Along with Anthony Davis, LeBron stayed on the court until deep in the fourth quarter, while the rest of the starters in D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves and Jarred Vanderbilt played until the final whistle.
Considering the LA Lakers’ consistent injury troubles this season, they need to develop chemistry in order to be ready for the postseason. Anthony Davis also claimed that the game helped the team with their chemistry, with James claiming that they do not have enough players to practice 5 vs 5:
“Yeah, that definitely helps because we can capture it on film and we can watch it and see some of the things we did well and some of the things we didn’t do so well.”
LeBron believes back-to-back games on the road in Utah and L.A. contributed to the Lakers' loss against the Clippers. https://t.co/50wVV4lumt
He added:
“At this point of the season, we don’t have the ability to actually get on the floor and play five-on-five. That’s literally out of the question at this point.
"The only time you can really do that is if you get into the postseason and you close a series out fast and you have a while until you play the next series. Then you can get a little bump.
"Other than that, you get most of your work in the film sessions and shoot-arounds and things of that nature.”