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Longtime NBA analyst and sports commentator Skip Bayless fired a fresh salvo at LeBron James after the Lakers lost on the road to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday. The purple-and-gold franchise were defeated 104-124, thereby reducing their overall regular season record to 29-40.
LeBron, who is among the top three players in the scoring title race, finished the contest versus the Minnesota Timberwolves with 19 points on a less-than-efficient shooting night as he went 8-of-21 (38.1%) from the field.
He also had a team-high five turnovers in the game and was only one-of-eight (12.5%) from downtown. LeBron's statline, coupled with the Lakers' loss, prompted Bayless to fire off the following tweet from his Twitter account:
"And some people seriously believe LeBron James is the GOAT???"
This was the Lakers' third straight loss and their ninth defeat since the All-Star break. They are currently only one game ahead of the 10th-placed New Orleans Pelicans and 2.5 games ahead of the 11th-placed San Antonio Spurs for a definite place in the play-in tournament. Their catastrophic run over the last few weeks prompted Bayless to tweet:
"Incomprehensibly bad: LeBron's Fakers have lost 16 of 21 to fall 11 games under .500. Games are over in the 1st q. 2-9 since the break - LeBron leads NBA in turnovers over those 11. He was 1-8 from 3 tonight, 5 more turnovers. Lakers were preseason favorites to win it all!"
Can LeBron James still win the scoring title?
The chances of LeBron James winning his second scoring title and becoming the oldest ever player to do so are diminishing with each passing game. LeBron's scoring average slipped from 29.7 ppg to 29.5 ppg after the loss to Minnesota.
Joel Embiid, meanwhile, retained control of the pole position with a 35-point outing against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday.
The Lakers now have 13 games left to play this season. They have three sets of games, including their next couple of matchups - against Toronto on Friday and Washington on Saturday - which are on back-to-back nights. It is hard to imagine that a 37-year-old LeBron James will play in all of these remaining games.
LeBron is averaging 31.0 ppg at home and 27.9 ppg away from Crypto.com Arena. So the chances of him overtaking Embiid and Giannis Antetokounmpo in this last stretch, when the Lakers play nine of their remaining 13 games on the road, are quite slim.
Guess the Bulls players in this quiz and it's not going to be easy!
