After playing mostly fantastic basketball in the first three games of the Los Angeles Lakers’ first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets, LeBron James struggled in Game 4 on Sunday. He went just 2-of-9 from the field and committed eight turnovers as the Lakers lost 115-96 and failed to sweep Houston.
Some may feel that fatigue was a factor for him. He played 45 minutes and posted 29 points, 13 rebounds, six assists, three steals and one block in L.A.’s thrilling Game 3 overtime win, but he also had eight turnovers.
Nonetheless, ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith said on “First Take” that James’ poor Game 4 wasn’t a sign of things to come.
“LeBron James — everything about it is an aberration,” Smith said. “I’m not concerned at all about what we saw from him in Game 4. LeBron James was phenomenal the first three games of this series. It was a bad game. My view of him after the Game 4 loss is that, yo, it was fatigue. Forty-one years of age, 23rd season, being out there on the basketball court, no Luka [Doncic], no Austin Reaves, and Houston was desperate.
“… To me, Wednesday night, you’ll see a level of normalcy toward LeBron James because it will be two additional days of rest. He will be much, much more ready Wednesday than he was yesterday, and I don’t make much of what happened in Game 4 to LeBron James at all.”
Game 5 will take place on Wednesday back in Los Angeles, and there is a real chance the Lakers will get Reaves back from an oblique strain that has kept him out for over three weeks. He was listed as questionable for Game 3 and Game 4, but the decision was made to hold him out.
If and when Reaves returns, it will help James by giving the team another ball-handler and facilitator who can drop at least 20 points a night and attack the rim off the dribble. That will allow James to play off the ball more often, as he did for much of the regular season, which will allow him to conserve his energy.
Besides, he does have a history of bouncing back well after subpar performances, and even at this point in his career, it is hard to imagine him having two bad games in a row.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Stephen A. Smith: LeBron’s bad Game 4 was an ‘aberration’
Reporting by Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire / LeBron Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
