LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Lakers hit the first real challenge of their title defense, with the 96-94 loss on Saturday to the Miami Heat marking their third loss in their last four games since Anthony Davis aggravated his Achilles tendon and suffered a calf strain on his right leg.
A question arose for these Lakers: does LeBron James need to do more to help his teammates, or does his teammates need to do more to help James?
“I feel that the latest games that are taking place are putting a lot on Bron,” Lakers guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope said after the game. “We already know what we’re going to get from him. So, all of us, we just have to keep playing hard and just playing basketball and not worry about anything else.”
James scored 19 points out of 7 out of 21 shots against the Heat (including only 1 out of 8 in the 3-point range), representing his worst percentage of shots of the season. He also coughed up five twists.
James, after stealing an internal pass intended for Jimmy Butler with 5.4 seconds remaining from the dispute and preparing Alex Caruso for a possible draw shot that failed, insisted that his teammates need not take any more time off while Davis and departure the point guard Dennis Schroder is on the sidelines.
“They are doing their part,” said James. “They are doing their part and more.”
No, James said it was up to him to get LA out of the difficult phase he is in, as he did for most of his 18-year career with the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Heat and now the Lakers. Saturday’s defeat took the title champions to third place in the Western Conference standings.
“I think it all comes down to that, and now it’s another challenge for me to be able to adjust,” said James. “Not having AD for a long time is something we haven’t had in the past year and a half, and now it’s time to adjust again and see ways to be even more effective in helping this team win games with the ball. the sport we practice.
“We are in the business of winning and I have always been a winner. So it’s time to click on that.”
James was not the only one struggling to throw the ball at Miami. The Lakers went from 1 to 13 in the 3-point range in the fourth period and did not do much better in the game, hitting 13 out of 45 attempts (28.9%) from outside.
“We try to help him as much as possible, and we want to make it as perfect as possible, as we can,” said Caldwell-Pope, one of only three Lakers to make more shots than he missed against Heat. “We try to help him, we try not to make too many mistakes when we’re on the ground with him or even playing with him, just to help him. We ask Bron a lot; he gives us a lot for every game.
“It depends on us, as much as RPG players and the ‘next man’ mentality, we have to be ready and stuck.”
Caruso, who is 10 years younger than James, said that being careful not to sell out James in February with a championship planned for spring and early summer is a “conscious thing” for his teammates.
“I mean, LeBron is the best player on our team, and night after night you can see the attention he gets because he is,” said Caruso. “With the players we eliminate, the teams will fight against him. He has a great mind for basketball and will do his part to make sure players are open to making great plays.”
For James, who joined in support of his team saying, “Every time we’re on the ground, we all try to protect each other and bring each other to the ground every night”, there was a minor critical case from a teammate that he shared, however.
With the drop of two points with 1.4 seconds remaining, he said he wished Caruso had taken a few steps back to launch a 3 and try to win.
“I think the only bad thing about it is that he shot 2 long shots,” said James of Caruso’s 6-meter kick that hit the front rim on the bell. “I wish he had hit a 3 and, hit or miss, I will live with that.”