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It's getting worse for LeBron James and the LA Lakers. The purple-and-gold franchise put on one of their worst displays of the season on Sunday as they suffered a blowout loss to the New Orleans Pelicans.
Playing at Crypto.com Arena, the Lakers lost 95-123 to the Pelicans, who are just two-and-a-half games behind them in the Western Conference standings.
One of the main reasons for the LA Lakers' defeat was their turnovers in the game. The Lakers, who rank among the bottom five teams in the league in this category, put up a new season-worst showing, turning the ball over 23 times against the Pelicans. They were particularly careless in the first half when they turned the ball over a whopping 16 times.
Russell Westbrook and LeBron James were the biggest culprits for the LA Lakers in this regard. Both players turned the ball over seven times each. While Westbrook has had worse showings with the basketball this campaign, James matched his highest turnovers in a game this season.
At one stage in the game, mid-way through the third quarter, Lakers fans even viciously booed James for committing the team's 18th turnover in the contest. You can watch the incident here:
LA Lakers' LeBron James records 500th 30-point game
One silver lining in an otherwise gloomy loss for the LA Lakers was that LeBron James recorded his 500th career 30-point game. The 37-year-old got to this mark in his 1353rd regular-season game.
James now only trails Michael Jordan, who had 562 30-point games in 1072 regular-season contests, and Wilt Chamberlain, who had 515 30-point outings in 1045 regular-season matchups.
James' 32-point game against the New Orleans Pelicans was his 25th 30-point outing of the season. The Lakers superstar is averaging 29.0 ppg in Year 19 of his storied NBA career. This is his best scoring average since the 2009-10 season when he averaged 29.7 ppg.
James only trails Joel Embiid (29.8 ppg), Giannis Antetokounmpo (29.4 ppg) and Kevin Durant (29.3 ppg) in the race for the 2021-22 scoring title. He has won the scoring champ honor only once in his NBA career when he averaged 30.0 ppg in the 2007-08 season while playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers.
LeBron James and the LA Lakers will play the Dallas Mavericks next. The two teams will square off at Crypto.com Arena on March 1.
