Is LeBron James playing tonight against the Houston Rockets? | January 16th, 2023 | 2022-23 NBA Season

LeBron James and the Lakers dropped their third straight game against the 76ers on Sunday - a very close game possibly botched by a missed foul call on a Russell Westbrook drive. The Lakers fell 112-113, and are now five games below .500 with a 19-24 record.

The LA Lakers will suit up against the Houston Rockets at the Crypto.com arena tonight at 10:30 ET.

For their second night of back-to-back games, LeBron James will be playing tonight. LBJ logged a 35-point, 10-assist double-double on Sunday.

Despite James' herculean efforts once again this season, the Lakers have struggled to string together wins, something that is necessary to keep them afloat, at least until Anthony Davis makes a return.

LAL's last two losses against the Mavericks and the Sixers were completely avoidable, had it not been for some very poor refereeing with the game on the line on both occasions.

Troy Brown Jr.'s fouled three-point attempt in the double-overtime game against the Dallas Mavericks could have been the difference between the win and a missed call on Russell Westbrook's drive in the final seconds of the game last night could have just as easily secured the win for the LA Lakers.

Despite the Lakers being second in scoring in the fourth quarter, the Lakers have had six losses this season which have been decided by six points or less.

LeBron James closes in on Kareem's record as Lakers continue to struggle

Philadelphia 76ers v Los Angeles Lakers

LeBron James crossed the 38,000 mark for career points on Sunday, becoming only the second player ever to achieve the feat. James now sits at 38,024 career points, 364 away from surpassing Kareem to become the NBA's all-time leader in points scored.

James has also brought his season average from around 27 early in the season all the way up to 29.2 points per game.

James is averaging 33.8 points per game in his last ten games, and at that pace, it would take James 11 games to surpass Kareem's record.

A bit of analysis tells us that LBJ is likely to cross the mark sometime in the next 3 weeks, should he play a significant chunk of the games.

LeBron James' production this season has kept LAL's hopes alive once again, despite them having a tendency to dig a hole in the non-LeBron minutes early in the game, and by the time James comes back on the floor, the lead is often too big to erase, especially with an offense that is the fourth-worst in the league in terms of points per game.