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LeBron James Jokes 'My Heart Is Not Sustainable for 2 Overtimes at This Point'
February 7, 2021
Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James joked he wasn't happy it took double overtime to beat the Detroit Pistons on Saturday night.
"I'm 36 years old. I don't have the heart—my heart is not sustainable for two overtimes at this point in my career," James said with a laugh. "I was just ready to go, get home, you know I got a bottle of wine that's been ready to be opened. I delayed it for two more overtimes, so I wasn't happy with myself in that regard."
The Lakers needed the four-time MVP for all six quarters to finally pull away from the Pistons.
James scored a game-high 33 points, including eight of the team's 17 points in the second overtime period, to go along with 11 assists, five rebounds and four steals in 46 minutes.
It's the most playing time the 16-time All-Star has logged this season with L.A. trying to manage the minutes of its stars after a short layoff following its run to the 2020 NBA title, which ended in mid-October.
The Lakers play four games this week, starting with two straight matchups against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Monday and Wednesday. It wouldn't be a surprise to see the team give James and Anthony Davis a rest at some point during the week after playing so many hard-fought minutes Saturday.
Although the condensed schedule isn't ideal for a team trying to preserve energy for another deep playoff run, the good news for Los Angeles is it doesn't have another back-to-back set until March 2-3, its last two games of the 2020-21 season's first half.
James, Davis and the Lakers own an 18-6 record after beating Detroit, which is the second-best mark in the NBA behind only the Utah Jazz (18-5).