The Los Angeles Lakers suffered a tough 112-100 loss on the road to the New York Knicks earlier today. They took a lead into the half, but the third quarter saw them get outplayed, which ultimately marked the difference, and LeBron James had to give an honest assessment of their situation post-game.
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James, after what may have been his final Madison Square Garden appearance, reflected on the Lakers‘ season. The loss to New York means they’re now 29-19, and are now dangerously close to slipping out of the automatic play-off positions.
It could be disastrous for the Lakers to finish outside the top six, and James believes that the current squad needs to improve.
“I like this group, but we got to get better. And that’s good, we should want to get better,” James told the media after the game. “It’s a tough Western Conference, it’s a tough league. It’s been tough all season, dealing with injuries, guys in, guys out. Unfortunately, our All-Star two guard has been out for a minute, and that’s a big piece of our team.”
The man James was talking about was none other than Austin Reaves. The Lakers guard had been a revelation this season before going down with a calf injury. He was averaging 26.6 points per game while shooting 50% from the field.
Lebron:
“We 29-19 right now, we’ve had some really good moments, we’ve had some not so good moments. Me speaking on anything other than that is not my pay grade. I like this group but we gotta get better and that’s good. Unfortunately our all star two guard has been out for a… pic.twitter.com/ChtqmYKqz8
— Oh No He Didn’t (@ohnohedidnt24) February 2, 2026
Unfortunately, Reaves has only played in 22 games and hasn’t seen the court since Christmas. It’s put a lot more pressure on LeBron and Luka Doncic to carry the load each game. This has led to a 10-9 Lakers record since Reaves went down.
“It’s kind of hard to see what we really, truly can be,” LeBron stated.
Injuries often play a massive role in shaping a team’s destiny in the NBA, and the Lakers have felt that impact firsthand this season. They have been hit hard by the injury bug and have paid the price for it. On paper, the roster looks capable of being a strong team, but they have yet to truly show it with key players rarely healthy at the same time.
Even so, LeBron and Los Angeles have managed to stay firmly in the playoff picture in the Western Conference. It will be interesting to see whether they can get fully healthy in time, as that could give them their best chance at making a serious title run.
