Lakers Admit They're Sort of Lost Without LeBron James

Without LBJ in the lineup, the Lakers struggled against a team that they should beat ten times out of ten.

The Lakers were without LeBron James in San Antonio on Monday night. Looking for their first consecutive win since the start of the year, James was a late scratch and they had to figure things out without him. That proved to be incredibly difficult. 

Frank Vogel joked before the game that he told Malik Monk he needed to score 56 points since James was out. That was in reference to James dropping 56 on Saturday against the Warriors. And Monk did his best, putting up 17 points and dishing out 5 rebounds in the loss. 

But the Lakers looked lost without LeBron or Anthony Davis facilitating the game. Russell Westbrook was a guy that they had to rely on, and he did what he could. He scored 17 points and put up 10 boards, but he's no LeBron James. 

Russ even admitted that it was a little bit of an issue to figure things out once they learned Bron would be out. 

“A lot of scrambling."

Frank Vogel also spoke about Bron's absence from the lineup before the loss. That knee that has given him trouble all year long became too much of a worry, resulting in them opting to sit him down, 

“The heavy load that he’s carrying for us this year, we know that it’s always a possibility. I think that’s why we continue to list him as questionable to see how it’s responding over the 48 hours between games. And this is just one of those days where it was significant enough to hold him out.”

The Spurs led by as many as 14 during this one and shot very efficiently from the field. But the Lakers never caught up, getting a lead of 1 point during the game and watching it melt away. 

The short answer as to why they couldn't win? They need LeBron James.