LeBron James Addresses LA Lakers' NBA Struggles After Defeat in Dallas

• LeBron James has said the LA Lakers are struggling without Anthony Davis
• They suffered their fourth loss in a row after losing to the Dallas Mavericks on Christmas Day
• Davis has now missed the Lakers' last five games and is set to be out for the next 10 days

LA Lakers superstar LeBron James has said their team is badly missing Anthony Davis after yet another painful defeat on Christmas Day to the Dallas Mavericks.

The loss was their fourth in a row and despite a promising start in the first half, the hosts blew them away in the third quarter which effectively ended their hopes.

The defeat in Dallas was the fourth time the Lakers have allowed 124 points or more. They have now won only three games in 11 and given they will be without Davis for a few more weeks.

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Head coach Darvin Ham maintains that his team need to step up when a key player is missing but since Davis went down, James has led all Lakers scorers in four of the last five games.

LeBron on Lakers struggles

According to ESPN, James said the team is struggling not only because Davis is missing but also because of what Davis brings to the Lakers squad.

Before he was injured, Davis was beginning to regain some of his form and was helping James in the scoring end. However, they have struggled badly without the 29-year-old.

"Reality is, without AD, we lose a lot of length, which we don't have already. So we have to make up in ways that, without AD, is very difficult, very challenging. So, I think at one point we had a lineup of I think [Austin Reaves, at 6-5] was the tallest guy on the court."

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The game saw James make history as it became his 17th Christmas Day game in his 20 seasons in the NBA. He surpassed the late Lakers great, Kobe Bryant, for the most in NBA history.

Davis is expected to be out for nearly 10 days after he was diagnosed with a stress injury. Before he was injured Davis was averaging 27.4 points and 12.1 rebounds this season, the best totals of his four seasons with the Lakers in the NBA.

LeBron loses his shoe

Sports Brief earlier reported on LeBron losing his shoe in the last moments in the Lakers' game against Charlotte Hornets.

The Lakers had possession with six seconds to go and down two. LeBron took the ball following an inbound pass from Patrick Beverly. Nothing could go wrong with the ball in LeBron's hands, right? Wrong!

As he drove to the basket, the shoe inexplicably came off as he tried to plant his foot on the court. He slid and fell to the hardwood.