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Lakers: LeBron James’ current play may not be sustainable

By Jason Reed

PHOENIX, ARIZONA - MAY 25: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts to a three-point shot against the Phoenix Suns during the second half of Game Two of the Western Conference first-round playoff series at Phoenix Suns Arena on May 25, 2021 in Phoenix, Arizona. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
PHOENIX, ARIZONA - MAY 25: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts to a three-point shot against the Phoenix Suns during the second half of Game Two of the Western Conference first-round playoff series at Phoenix Suns Arena on May 25, 2021 in Phoenix, Arizona. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
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The Los Angeles Lakers are currently tied at one game apiece against the Phoenix Suns in the first round of the NBA Playoffs. After dropping Game 1, the Lakers came away victorious in what was a must-win Game 2.

With Chris Paul battling a shoulder injury and the series now heading to LA, the Lakers are the rare heavy favorites to win the series despite being the seventh seed against the second seed.

The Lakers lost Game 1 because of Anthony Davis’ poor play and the team’s inability to hit shots even though they were getting great looks. Davis played much better in Game 2, Frank Vogel made the right adjustments and LeBron James closed it out.

LeBron is the reason why the Lakers won this game down the stretch and he is the only reason why they are even the seventh seed in the first place as his second-half singlehandedly beat the Warriors in the play-in tournament. He’s playing great. He’s LeBron James, we should expect it.

However, unlike previous years, this does not seem sustainable.

Why LeBron James’ play is not sustainable for the Los Angeles Lakers:

I think it is pretty obvious that while he is playing, LeBron is taking it easy on his ankle. He is not exploding to the rim nearly as much as he normally would and has been doing a lot of facilitating and shooting.

The shooting is the thing that the Los Angeles Lakers cannot bank on.

LeBron is far from a three-point specialist but he is shooting the basketball as if he is one in this series. LeBron is 7-16 from downtown in the two games, good enough for 43.8%. That is far above his career average and last year in the playoffs he shot 37% from beyond the arc.

The games in which the Lakers lost in the playoffs last season were the ones where LeBron was doing his best Stephen Curry impression and was taking bad three-point shots. Everyone loves the revenge deep-three from LeBron… when it goes in and sometimes they just do not go in.

LeBron made six of nine in the Game 5 loss in the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat, but besides that, the games that the Lakers lost were the ones where he could not hit shots. In the three other losses, the Lakers had LeBron shot a combined 4-16 from three.

LeBron shooting at a near-44% clip is not going to continue. He is not a prolific three-point shooter and there will be nights that the basketball does not fall. Those are the nights in which the penetrating and physical LeBron will be needed, and unfortunately, there is no guarantee that he can do so with his ankle injury.

This is not to say that LeBron James is going to have a bad playoff overall, but the style in which he is playing is not sustainable for an NBA Championship run. The hope is that as the playoffs go along the ankle rounds into shape and the team does not have to be as reliant on his three-point shots.

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Regardless, they will probably get through Phoenix because of Paul’s injuries but they will not beat the best teams in the league with LeBron chucking up eight threes a game.