Los Angeles Lakers: 7 takeaways from six-game road trip

7. LeBron James returns with a bang

Lebron James suffered a groin injury on Christmas Day against the Golden State Warriors. Los Angeles won that game but fell apart after that without their best player. James would miss 17 games with that groin injury, as the Lakers went 6-11. He made a surprise return to start the trip against the Clippers and had a monster game.

James just missed a triple-double against the Clippers, scoring 24 points with 14 rebounds and nine assists. He would record a triple-double against the Celtics and Hawks and put up some incredible numbers during the road trip.

In the five games he played, James averaged 23.2 points, 11 assists and 10.8 rebounds per game. He had at least nine assists and seven rebounds in all five games.

It was quite a return for James from the groin injury, as he had some dominant performances. However, even his return wasn’t enough to get the team the team on a winning streak.