Lakers welcome back LeBron in blowout to Celtics: Good, bad and story

The story from the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss:

The Los Angeles Lakers are playing soft basketball right now.

After getting worked by Giannis Antetokounmpo on Wednesday, this game was the perfect opportunity to get back on the right track and make a good showing in a rival game against Boston. Even with LeBron’s return to the lineup, this team had yet another listless performance.

• The Lakers allowed yet another superstar to dominate them with relative ease. Jayson Tatum was not even bothered with any of the Lakers’ pressure after the second quarter and the Celtics offense looked like a well-oiled machine.
• The Boston Celtics dominated in the paint, scoring more than 50 points while beating the Lakers up on the glass outrebounding them 51-33.
• Carmelo Anthony is getting exposed on defense. When players were matched up against Melo (Specifically Schroder!) they attacked him and blew past him for layups. The coaching staff needs to figure out a roster that can protect him on defense. He was especially bad in this game! 
• Malik Monk was even worse allowing Marcus Smart to get going offensively.

But LeBron James is back right? Where’s the raised level in intensity? Urgency? Anger?

LeBron James is injured folks!

Look this writer has criticized LeBron James in the past for his leadership issues and the fact he flat out quit in his first year in Los Angeles. But it is plain to see even though he played well under the circumstances, he is injured and is not over that abdominal strain. The Lakers are playing with fire here. They need to make sure that this guy is 100 percent healthy before he continues to play.

However, he will probably be in the lineup in Detroit on Sunday.