In late December and early January, the Los Angeles Lakers were without the injured Anthony Davis and were in dire need of wins in bunches. LeBron James responded with a series of big scoring games, and they won five straight contests and six of seven.
Then they lost three in a row, and they came into their Jan. 16 contest against the Houston Rockets desperate for a W.
Buy Lakers TicketsThe Rockets were one of the worst teams in the NBA this past season, but they wouldn’t go down easily. James made sure they would by scoring a season-high 48 points on 16-of-26 shooting overall and 5-of-10 from 3-point range, as well as 11-of-12 from the free-throw line.
He also contributed nine assists and eight rebounds, and that production was good enough for a 140-132 Lakers victory.
Even though his feet were killing him, James would continue to carry the Lakers for the next few weeks until help finally arrived in the form of a couple of midseason trades.
