The Los Angeles Lakers fell back to a sub .500 record after their 130-112 loss to the Brooklyn Nets on Friday. The Lakers had won two straight over-winning teams in the Oklahoma City Thunder and Dallas Mavericks before falling disappointingly to the now 17-24 Nets.
LeBron James put up 24 points, 11 rebounds and five assists in the loss, only behind teammate Anthony Davis on his team, who had 26 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. When asked how they’ll keep this game from affecting them going forward, James had an interesting response saying he’ll “watch the NFL playoffs,” via Spectrum Sportsnet.
Watching the playoffs was definitely not the expected answer, but a solid option with four huge matchups to decide the teams heading to the Conference Championship Games. James is far from the only person who was watching the NFL playoffs this weekend. His teammate Anthony Davis was one of the many stars at the San Francisco 49ers-Green Bay Packers game, with Davis donning an Aaron Jones jersey in support of the Packers.
The game came down to the final minutes before the 49ers snuck away with a 24-21 win. After that game, the Detroit Lions won an exciting 31-23 contest against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and then the divisional slate closes with a classic between Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen. Not a bad weekend plan.
Meanwhile, the Lakers are in danger of missing the NBA playoffs if they continue at their current pace. Los Angeles currently holds the 10th seed, which would make them eligible for the play-in tournament. Still, qualifying to just the play-in tournament would be quite a disappointment after they made the Western Conference Semifinals a season ago.
James and the Lakers will have the chance to return to a .500 record when they take on the 12-29 Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday evening.