LeBron James On Lakers’ 8-1 Record Over Last 9 Games: ‘Offensively We’ve Been Very Consistent’

The Los Angeles Lakers are 8-1 over their last nine games and LeBron James told NBA reporters that the team has been “very consistent” on offense. 

The Lakers are seventh in the NBA in points per game (117.9).

“I think offensively we’ve been very consistent,” LeBron said, via The Athletic. “Our ball movement, sharing the ball. We still got to crack down on some of the unforced turnovers but we’re all in a good rhythm playing off one another.

“I think defensively, we’ve been good at times. We can be a lot better at times, but when we’ve needed to get stops, we’ve got it done for this whole trip.”

The Lakers are 44-33 on the season. They are in ninth place in the Western Conference standings. 

LeBron 39, is averaging 25.4 points, 7.3 rebounds and 8.1 assists on the season while shooting 53.6% from the field, 41.6% from beyond the arc and 74.8% from the free-throw line. 

The Lakers beat the Atlanta Hawks, Philadelphia 76ers, Indiana Pacers, Milwaukee Bucks, Memphis Grizzlies, Brooklyn Nets, Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizards for their last eight wins. They lost to the Pacers on March 29 in Indiana. 

“The West is so deep. We hit this stride, we’re playing well and everyone else is too,” Lakers head coach Darvin Ham said. “It’s like no one is helping anybody. … It’s like, from one through 11, it’s unprecedented. I’ve been around the league a long time. Twenty-eight years, I’ve never seen this where you have teams 10, nine games over .500 and fighting in Play-In position.”

If the regular season ended today, the Lakers would face the Golden State Warriors in the 9-10 play-in tournament game. LAL would need to win two play-in games in a row to make the 2024 playoffs as the eighth seed if they stay in the ninth spot.

“We just hope we can go through the same journey in terms of securing a playoff spot and having success — and go even deeper this time,” Ham said.