LeBron James scored 12 points as the Lakers lost 101-93 to the Thunder, marking his fourth straight game with fewer than 20 points.
Unusual Scoring Drought:
This scoring slump is rare for LeBron. You’d have to look back to his rookie season in 2003-04 to find a similar four-game stretch where he didn’t hit 20 points. Back then, he scored 19, four, eight, and 18 points over a week in December. Since then, he’s only had two more streaks like this during his debut year.
Recent Struggles:
In recent years, LeBron has rarely gone three games without scoring at least 20 points. The last time was in the 2020-21 season after an ankle injury when he scored just 10, 16, and 19 points over three games. Another instance was during the 2015-16 season with scores of 19, 16, and 17 in January. Currently, he’s shooting poorly at just 42% from the field and a dismal 17% from beyond the arc while also turning over the ball too much.
Fans are starting to worry about LeBron’s performance lately.
His struggles have been costly for the Lakers as they went through a rough patch with only one win out of their last five games. Analyst Jason Timpf pointed out that LeBron’s jump shot has been off recently; he’s made just twelve out of forty-two attempts in his past eight games.
LeBron just looks horribly out of rhythm.
Off target passes, bad reads. Even his jump shot is off (12 for 42 from three last 8 gms).
Doesnโt exactly look explosive either, something to keep an eye on, but he certainly can play much better than this.
— Jason Timpf (@_JasonLT)
Age Showing Its Signs?
Is age finally catching up with him? At nearly forty years old, LeBron is averaging some of his lowest numbers since entering the league. This season started strong for him but now seems different as he averages only about twenty-two points per gameโhis lowest since being a rookie! The Lakers are about to embark on a challenging road trip through Utah, Minnesota (brrr!), Miami (sunshine!), and Atlanta (peachy!). If things don’t improve soon for James’ scoring woes… well… let’s just say they might end up below .500 by then!
