The Lakers were dealt another blow as LeBron James suffered an ankle injury in an important game against the Pelicans. The four-time NBA champion scored 39 points in 42 minutes of play but it wasn’t enough for Los Angeles to win.

“It’s tough. It’s just been that kind of season,” Lakers head coach Frank Vogel said about LeBron’s injury. “He was in incredible groove right around then. Credit him for toughing that out. But you could see he was limited on it somewhat the rest of the way but battled through it. We just didn’t execute well enough in the second half on both sides.”

New Orleans overtook the Lakers in the Western Conference standings, pushing them on the brink of elimination from postseason. The purple and gold are just a single game above the Spurs.