Basketball
Lakers Fall Short Against Knicks After LeBron James’ Suspension
by privatebet.com - 2021/11/24
The Los Angeles Lakers have been struggling to win without LeBron James this season, and they faced the same problem during their latest game. They were defeated by the New York Knicks on Tuesday night as James’ had to sit out the game due to a recent suspension. Russell Westbrook basically carried the team on his shoulders in LeBron’s absence and scored 31 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists. That still wasn’t enough to beat the Knicks, as the Lakers struggled to make a comeback after falling behind by as much as 25 points in the first half, and eventually lost 106-100. This is the Lakers’ first game following LeBron’s one-game suspension for his role in an altercation against the Detroit Pistons. He was suspended after accidentally striking Isaiah Stewart in the face, while Stewart was suspended for two games for escalating the on-court altercation. Another factor contributing to the Lakers’ latest loss is Anthony Davis, who was dealing with flu-like symptoms before the game. Despite his illness, he managed to score 20 points but struggled to give it his all because he arrived late and failed to do his usual warm-up. “I definitely think that he was a little bit drained and we used him differently. We tried to keep him in seven-minute runs and he did not play in his normal rotation, so it probably had an impact,” the Lakers coach Frank Vogel explained.