The Los Angeles Lakers look unmovable from the top of the Western Conference table and strengthened their hold with an overtime win over the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday. The number one seeds in the West will get home court advantage during the post-season, but James said the Lakers are not focused on the seedings at this point.
He made it clear that they are focusing on one game at a time rather than look at the future. The Lakers have four games over the Nuggets and 4.5 games over their main Western Conference rivals the Los Angeles Clippers, who are third on the table.
"We don't talk about it," James said after the Lakers' 120-116 overtime win gave L.A. a four-game lead over the Nuggets, as quoted on ESPN. "For us, we would love to play in front of our home fans as much as we can. We love being there with our Laker faithful."
"But at the end of the day, you go out and play each and every game like it's its own game. You can't worry about what could happen the following day. You can only look at the present, like we did tonight."
James recorded his 20th triple-double of his Lakers career after ending the night with 32 points, 14 assists and 12 rebounds against the Nuggets making him the fourth player in franchise history after Magic Johnson, the late Kobe Bryant and Elgin Baylor to do so. It was also his 12th of the season which sees him keep pace with league leader in triple—doubles Dallas Mavericks Luka Doncic.
The NBA teams will break from regular season duties from Friday until the 20th of February as players partake in the All-Star break. James and teammate Anthony Davis will be starters for the West, while teammate Dwight Howard will take part in Saturday's Slam Dunk contest.
Once the teams return to action the Lakers will be on a six-week run to the post-season. They are as good as assured of making the post-season, but it's the first time since 2013 and James likes where LA stands after admitting that they have played some good basketball along the way.
"We are where we need to be," James said. "We'll come back off the break and get ready for the final stretch of the regular season. You don't put too much into it. You understand you played some good basketball along the way, played some not good basketball. But you want to continue to get better and continue to trust the process. We look forward to when we get back, getting back on the floor and see how far we'll continue to grow."
