LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers were riding a three-game winning streak into Thursday night’s away game against Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets.
However, they suffered defeat at the hands of the Nuggets, 120-113. LeBron finished with 16 points on 7-for-11 field goal shooting, to go with eight assists and five rebounds. King James also had a record-breaking night, as he surpassed Lakers legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for most field goals made all-time in the NBA.
It was a night of ups and downs for the Lakers, though, including LeBron taking a painful fall onto the court in the fourth quarter, forcing him to exit the game. After the loss, he also spoke about how he was feeling with a potential left elbow injury that could keep him out of action.
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With four minutes remaining in the game and the Lakers down 110-106, LeBron hit the court, forcing him to exit the game initially. James returned with about two minutes to go, but the Lakers ultimately lost the game.
“It’s pretty sore right now,” LeBron told reporters, adding, “Felt like one of them funny bone situations but like super more intense.”
He admitted he was just trying to get some feeling back after the injury when he exited the game. According to LeBron, he’d monitor how he was feeling on Friday to see if he was good to go for the team’s next game.
“See what happens over the next couple of days. Hopefully, I wake up tomorrow, and it doesn’t feel too much worse than it is now, or if it feels better, that’d be great. We’ll see what happens,” LeBron said.
Reporters asked him about breaking Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s record, which he referred to as “humbling,” as he said he grew up admiring the “greats,” so it was “pretty cool” to break the all-time field goals mark.
“Obviously, it doesn’t hit me at all right now. What I feel is my elbow and the loss,” he also said about truly realizing the significance of breaking that record.
The Lakers host the Indiana Pacers on Friday evening, with an update on LeBron James’ injury status for the contest likely forthcoming. As it stands, his team is 37-25 after the loss and remains sixth in the Western Conference standings, just behind Jokic and the Nuggets.
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