LeBron James is giving Lakers a puncher’s chance

LOS ANGELES – With the Lakers playing without Austin Reaves and Luka Dončić for the rest of the regular season, plenty of people have written LA off. That’s understandable, as most teams can’t get far without their two top scorers.

However, those teams aren’t the Lakers, and they don’t employ LeBron James.

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In LA’s road win over Golden State on Thursday, LeBron was brilliant. He finished the night with 26 points, seven rebounds and 11 assists to help end the Lakers’ three-game losing streak.

With the Lakers scheduled to play another game Friday night at home, LeBron, as the NBA’s oldest player, suited up for the back-to-back and raised his level of play once again.

James dominated, leading the Lakers in points, assists, steals and minutes played, lifting them past the Suns 101-73.

The back-to-back wins, paired with the Rockets’ loss to the Wolves, mean the lowest seed the Lakers can finish is fourth.

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When Dončić and Reaves went down, and they lost three straight, having home court seemed like an impossibility, and even head coach JJ Redick said seeding was “out the window.”

Thanks to James’ efforts, LA will remain a top seed in a very competitive Western Conference.

“We’re gonna need him to facilitate,” Redick said postgame. “We’re gonna need him to score. We’re gonna need him to defend and rebound. I think he recognizes the task at hand. He’s very locked in. He’s played great all three games.”

It was clear from the jump that LeBron was ready to compete at a high level on Friday night.

He knocked down a corner three early on to put himself on the board. James then hits a trio of free throws and then another three. Then, the league’s all-time leading scorer completed this scoring outburst with an emphatic dunk.

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His two-handed slam shook the basket and rocked the crowd. With 4:53 left to go in the opening quarter, James had 14 points, which was as many as Phoenix had as a team.

This isn’t new for LeBron. He has been the best player and top performer on each team he’s been on throughout most of his NBA career.

But this season, with Luka…

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Publish date : 2026-04-11 07:10:00

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