On Monday evening, the Los Angeles Lakers hosted the Boston Celtics in California.

The Celtics were able to pull away in the second half and won by a score of 126-115.

LeBron James finished his night with 16 points, nine rebounds and eight assists while shooting 5/14 from the field and 1/2 from the three-point range in 37 minutes of playing time.

After the game, James met with the media and shared an honest statement (h/t ESPN’s Dave McMenamin).

James: “I don’t think we’re healthy right now. I don’t think we’re where we want to be to compete vs the top teams until we continue to get better and better. Continue to work on habits. For us, we’re still trying to figure our situation out as far as how we want to continue to attack each game.”

LeBron James says the Lakers’ lack of health relative to the league’s top teams has been a challenge in developing the consistency needed to compete at their best. “We’re still trying to figure out our situation as far as how we want to continue to attack each game” pic.twitter.com/JdU0DjoOlQ

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) December 26, 2023

James is still among the ten best players in the NBA and is averaging 25.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 7.3 assists and 1.5 steals per contest while shooting 53.9% from the field and 41.3% from the three-point range in 28 games.

The Lakers dropped to 16-15 in their first 31 games, which has them as the ninth seed in the Western Conference.

They are 4-6 over their last ten games and 10-4 in the 14 games they have played at home.

Following the Celtics, the Lakers will host the Charlotte Hornets on Thursday evening in Los Angeles.

Final pic.twitter.com/Lk9Y27XYTX

— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) December 26, 2023

As for the Celtics, they are the first seed in the Eastern Conference and improved to 23-6 in 29 games.