Los Angeles Lakers suffered a heavy defeat against Phoenix Suns which leaves them on the brink of elimination. LeBron James opted to leave the court midway during the fourth quarter as his side trailed the contest by 30 points.
The four-time MVP had a good game personally with 24 points, 7 assists, and 5 rebounds. However, with the other teammates not stepping up combined with the absence of Anthony Davis, pushed the defending champions to their third defeat in the series so far.
Phoenix Suns handed themselves a 30-point lead following their display in the second quarter which yielded them 32 points as compared to Lakers’ 10.
LeBron James took a place on the bench after playing 32 minutes and went on to leave the court with the score at 73-105 with 5:41 to go. Have a look at the video right below:
Speculation making the rounds leads to the fact that the Lakers ace had left the court to get some treatment for his high ankle sprain, an injury he has been carrying since the final leg of the regular season.
However, LeBron could not have been pleased with what he saw out there on the court. Players such as Dennis Schroder and Kyle Kuzma were expected to fill the absence of Davis but instead had poor outings. Schroder had 0 points to his name after playing for 26 minutes.
LeBron’s illustrious playoffs first-round record in major peril
The Game 5 loss to Phoenix Suns entered history books for all the wrong reasons for LeBron and the Lakers.
Suns’ 30-point lead at halftime, marked the biggest trail in LeBron James’ postseason career and also the second highest deficit in the franchise’s history.
Moreover, this loss also meant that the 36-year-old faced consecutive defeats in the first round of the playoffs.
The 3-2 deficit takes the player closer to his first ever elimination in the first round. He is currently 14-0 in this stage of the season.
When asked about how the Lakers plan to bounce back in the do-or-die Game 6, Lakers coach Frank Vogel said: “We’ll find out what we’re made of and we’ll find out how bad we want this,”
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