Saturday’s victory not only wrapped up a 1-2 road trip, but also ended a stretch where the Lakers played 12 of 15 games from Nov. 25 through Saturday outside of Los Angeles.
OKLAHOMA CITY — LeBron James wasn’t ready to talk about it yet.
The Lakers star had more pressing matters on his mind – like spending Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with his family – after his team’s 129-121 road trip-ending victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder to snap the Lakers’ four-game losing streak.
So while being asked about the Lakers’ next game, when they’ll host the Boston Celtics in a Christmas Day matchup on Monday in Los Angeles, James shook his head and gave a slight shrug to demonstrate that wasn’t where his focus was at the moment.
“All I care about is [Sunday’s] day off,” James said. “I can give a damn about Monday. The only thing I care about Monday right now is my daughter waking up and opening up her gifts. That’s it. Please don’t even talk to me about Christmas Day right now. Christmas Eve is what I’m looking forward to.”
Although there was relief in ending the streak – Anthony Davis entered Saturday saying the matchup was a “must-win” game for the Lakers and James said the team “needed this win” over the Thunder – and excitement around the locker room, James’ sentiment was shared by teammates.
“It should be fun,” Cam Reddish said. “I’m looking forward to seeing my family.”
The enthusiasm to return to Southern California was greater than usual inside the Lakers’ locker room.
Saturday’s victory not only wrapped up a 1-2 road trip, but also ended a stretch where the Lakers played 12 of 15 games – including the In-Season Tournament semifinals and championship victories in Las Vegas – from Nov. 25 through Saturday outside of Los Angeles. When taking travel days into account, the Lakers spent 21 of the previous 30 days on the road.
Within those 30 days, the Lakers made a four-game trip to the East Coast/Midwest, won the inaugural In-Season Tournament and NBA Cup, had a three-game trip in Texas and another three-game trip in the Midwest.
They also made their second significant change to their starting lineup in the win over the Thunder, replacing D’Angelo Russell with Jarred Vanderbilt in the first unit alongside Taurean Prince, Cam Reddish, James and Davis – giving the Lakers a starting group of players 6-foot-6 or taller.
“We’ve had a tough past 30 days,” coach Darvin Ham said, “but we get a chance to get home, spend a day at home with our families on Christmas Eve, wake up, open up some presents and get down to the Crypto and get ready to get busy.”
While the Lakers (16-14) are trying to break out of their post-In Season Tournament slump, the Eastern Conference-leading Celtics (22-6) have been rolling all season long, winning seven of their last eight games after their 145-108 blowout win over the Clippers on Saturday.
“They’re one of the teams that’s at the top of the food chain in our league,” Ham said. “A team that’s definitely a championship contender. We get a chance to see where we are. You don’t have to have a Knute Rockne speech for this one. It’s a classic Lakers-Celtics game. Both teams are playing – for the most part of the year – playing at a high level. It’ll be a great chance to see where we are against the best of the best in terms of competition.”
When: Monday, 2 p.m.
Where: Crypto.com Arena
TV/Radio: ABC, ESPN, 710 AM
