Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James exceeded his 26.8 PPG career scoring average in Game 1 against the Oklahoma City Thunder, but it felt like LA needed more than Bron's 27 points. Like ... a lot more. Rui Hachimura was a competent second fiddle to James, dropping 18 points on 3-of-6 from downtown, but with Austin Reaves struggling (eight points), and with meager bench contributions, the Lakers didn't generate enough offense.
If LeBron is scoring in the high 20s or low 30s and the Lakers' offense is still falling far short, that's an issue they can't overcome. And here's another important number explaining why the Lakers shouldn't rely on James to put up Herculean scoring performances in this series: 41. That's how many years James -- whom Steve Kerr recently dubbed the greatest athlete in human history -- has been walking the Earth. But even LeBron's singular greatness has its limits (he is human, right?), and LA is doomed if they're expecting James to turn into a 40-PPG or even 30-PPG scorer against OKC's historically dominant defense.
The Lakers can't expect LeBron James to be a high-scoring playoff savior
It's not that LeBron isn't capable of huge scoring nights in the postseason -- the man has tallied 28 playoff games of 40-or-more points in his career, and he also has a 51-point NBA Finals game on his resumé from 2018.
But of all of those performances, only two of them have come since 2020: 40 points against the Miami Heat in the 2020 NBA "Bubble" Finals, and 40 points against the Denver Nuggets in the 2023 Western Conference Finals.
In other words, the days of 40-point Playoff Bron are in the past. As I'm writing this, James is probably preparing to burst through that ceiling and score 45 in Game 2. Fair enough. But if that happens, there's no way he can repeat such a performance in Game 3. It's not sustainable, and that's the point here. If the Lakers' surrounding pieces don't produce enough scoring to complement a sturdy night from James (25 to 30 points), LA cannot expect to win even one game in this series.
Lakers aren't giving LeBron James enough scoring help to beat OKC
The Lakers' dilemma surrounding LeBron James is exactly that -- the players surrounding LeBron, not James himself. As has been a recurring narrative throughout James' career -- for whatever reason -- LeBron doesn't have enough help right now, and there's no solution in sight. Unless Reaves can magically reclaim midseason form over the course of the next couple of games, this might be a short series.
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