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James experienced the final knockout from an ankle injury on the sidelines. He wore a casual t-shirt, gold chain and sunglasses. It’s emblematic of a season when nothing worked out and some supporters were already accusing James of playing for the scoring title rather than a winning Lakers result. James’ Los Angeles record is split: the club missed the play-offs in 2019 and 2022, and in 2021 they lost in the first round. But in 2020 it was enough for the title, led by James and Davis.
“We look really good on paper,” Davis said earlier this week of this year’s roster. “But we didn’t have a chance to show that.” The fact that rather mediocre teams like the New Orleans Pelicans or the San Antonio Spurs instead of the Lakers are playing for more tickets for the final round in the so-called playin tournament must be particularly painful for the James team .
But the Lakers had nothing more to add in the crucial phase of the season. “This year we’ve had more varied starting line-ups than wins,” Davis said soberly. Ending his career is not yet an issue for James, who has won at least one title at his stations in Cleveland, Miami and Los Angeles. He wants to stay in the NBA until his 17-year-old son Bronny comes into the league and has a season as a father-son team.
Chicago Bulls secured the last direct ticket
The end was also sealed because the San Antonio Spurs had previously won 116:97 at the Denver Nuggets. As a result, the Lakers can no longer catch up in tenth place in the remaining three games of the main round. The Spurs are now safely playing the New Orleans Pelicans in the first round of mini-qualifiers. It’s about one of the last two playoff spots in the Western Conference.
With a 121-115 win against the Memphis Grizzlies, the Utah Jazz made the playoffs perfect. In the west it is still unclear whether Denver can defend its direct play-off spot or whether the Minnesota Timberwolves will still overtake them to sixth place.
In the Eastern Conference, on the other hand, only placement questions without any impact on participation in qualification are open. Despite the 106:127 defeat against the Milwaukee Bucks, the Chicago Bulls secured the last direct ticket to the playoffs.
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The Cleveland Cavaliers, on the other hand, have to go into the so-called play-in because of the 115:120 loss to the Orlando Magic. Franz Wagner made his comeback for the Magic after missing his first NBA game of the season, but stopped after less than seven minutes with an ankle injury. His brother Moritz Wagner got 15 points.