Although LeBron James teams aren’t accustomed to knowing March Madness, his Los Angeles Lakers were mercifully eliminated from the postseason like the 32 college teams that were eliminated over the past two days, falling to the Brooklyn Nets 111-106.
JaVale McGee had a career night with 33 points to go with 20 rebounds and six blocks to lead the Lakers throughout the night. McGee was the beneficiary of many assists from LeBron James, who racked up a near triple double with 25 points, 14 assists and 9 rebounds.
It’s the first time LeBron has missed the playoffs since 2005 and the sixth consecutive year the Lakers have ended their season in early April.
Former Laker D’Angelo Russell had another great performance to lead the Nets with 21 points and 13 assists as the Lakers saw their playoff hopes go down the drain. In addition Russell, Joe Harris had a monster game of 26 points on the perimeter for the Nets while the always reliable Ed Davis had 14 points and 15 rebounds. Also L.A. native Spencer Dinwiddie pitched in 20 points for the Nets.
The Lakers and LeBron unfortunately played the part of Ned Stark on Friday. Their arc ended prematurely.
LeBron slipped and fell down on a final drive in the closing seconds of the game before walking off gingerly. It was a closing turnover for the Lakers in the loss and the closing turnover on their season, mathematically at least.
Now the Lakers have officially been eliminated and they no longer have any logical reasons to play LeBron James for the rest of the season. While they haven’t announced anything yet, the Lakers being eliminated from the postseason puts a bow on their disappointing season and allows the team to finally move forward.
