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Skip Bayless is back to his favorite pastime, LeBron James-bashing. After directing his ire at Russell Westbrook over the last couple of LA Lakers games, Bayless returned to targeting James, something he has done repeatedly in the past.
The longtime NBA analyst and commentator singled out the 37-year-old Lakers superstar for the Lakers' embarrassing loss to an undermanned Portland Trail Blazers team on Wednesday night. The Blazers, playing without the injured Damian Lillard and recently-traded shooting guard CJ McCollum, managed to edge past the Lakers in a 107-105 win at the Moda Center.
The Lakers, too, were without Russell Westbrook, who sat out the game due to tightness in his lower back. Even then, with LeBron James and Anthony Davis playing, the expectation was that the Lakers would be able to handle a Portland team leaning on Trenton Watford, Greg Brown III and Keljin Blevins.
James finished with 30 points, seven rebounds and seven assists, but had six turnovers in the contest. The shock result, coupled with the King's poor ball-handling, angered Skip Bayless. He took to Twitter to say:
"WHAT?! Lakers, favored by 10, lose at what's left of 21-34 Portland, which had lost its last 5 at home. LeBron turned into Westbrook with 6 turnovers. His late turnover and missed bunny were killers. Lord have mercy on this team, now 4 under .500. It just hit bottom."
LeBron James continues his 25-plus points streak
The Lakers may have lost yet another game, but LeBron James continued to put up stellar numbers in his 19th NBA season. James' 30 points versus Portland ensured that his 25-plus points streak extended to 21 games. He is now tied with Joel Embiid, who has the same number of 25-plus point games. Giannis Antetokounmpo follows close behind with an active streak of 20 25-plus point games.
James also improved his scoring average to 29.1 ppg after the game against Portland. That puts him marginally behind Embiid (29.4 ppg), Kevin Durant (29.3 ppg) and Giannis (29.2 ppg) in the race for the scoring title. LeBron's 2021-22 scoring average is the most points the 17-time All-Star (heading to his 18th All-Star game in Cleveland) has averaged since 2009-10 when he finished with 29.7 ppg for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The LA Lakers are 20-19 with LeBron James playing for them this season and are 6-11 without LeBron.
