LOS ANGELES — LeBron James didn’t score 56 points Monday. This time, he didn’t score any.
He was definitely missed by the Lakers while sitting out against the San Antonio Spurs because of soreness in his left knee.
In a direct correlation, the Lakers lost on the road in San Antonio, 117-110, failing to apply much defensive pressure and forcing a few too many shots down the stretch.
The Lakers (28-36) are now only one game ahead of New Orleans for ninth in the Western Conference.
All eyes will be on James the next few days. He felt discomfort in the knee for several weeks and consistently appeared as questionable on the Lakers injury report because of it.
The knee often feels sore the day after a game but the pain typically subsides before the next game, Lakers Coach Frank Vogel said.
Not so on Monday.
“The soreness today was still significant enough for us to hold him out,” Vogel said, adding that the team was “hopeful” James would play Wednesday in Houston.
James scored a surreal 56 points two days earlier in the Lakers’ victory over Golden State, setting his personal mark for most points since joining the Lakers four seasons ago.
The Lakers leaned on Russell Westbrook against the Spurs but he was inefficient, scoring 17 points on 5-for-14 shooting. He made only 7 of 13 free throws and had five turnovers.
The Lakers surely would have won if James and Anthony Davis (sprained foot) were on the court. Injuries, however, are a far too common reality for the Lakers this season.
“I feel like every time we get a win, get some momentum, something happens,” Westbrook said. “That’s just how it’s been for us, but we’ve got to keep plugging away.”
The Lakers trailed by three going into the fourth quarter and scored only 18 points the rest of the way.
“The fourth quarter is when we miss [James] the most,” Vogel said. “But we miss him throughout the whole game.
The Lakers are a shaky 19-14 against teams below .500, worst among the top nine teams in the West. They allowed 64 points in the paint and were beat often in the fourth quarter by Spurs center Jakob Poeltl, who finished with 18 points.
Spurs guard Dejounte Murray was also strong, rebounding from a poor showing against the Lakers when they last faced each other in December. Murray had 26 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists Monday as the Spurs improved to 25-40.
The score could have been more lopsided if the Spurs hadn’t left a lot of points on the court, making only 15 of 30 free throws.
Regardless, the win allowed San Antonio Coach Gregg Popovich to tie Don Nelson for most all-time coaching victories (1,335).
The Spurs started to give up on the season a few weeks ago when they traded Derrick White at the deadline, breaking up a promising young backcourt. They’ll have three first-round picks in the June draft, including their own.
The Lakers play the underachieving Rockets on Wednesday, continuing a rough stretch of 12 road games over their final 18 in the regular season.
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