James hurts hand but hopes to lift Lakers into NBA playoffs

LeBron James has not missed the NBA playoffs in back-to-back seasons since his first two campaigns and the Los Angeles Lakers star really doesn't want it to happen again this year.

But the 38-year-old playmaker, who became the NBA's all-time scoring leader earlier this month, has been nagged by ailments and couldn't even escape Sunday's NBA All-Star Game without an injury.

James sat out the second half after hurting his right hand as Team LeBron lost to Team Giannis Antetokounmpo 184-175, the first defeat for James in six times as an All-Star captain.

"I got my finger caught in the rim, but I'll be fine," James said. "I don't think it's too much to worry about but for precautionary reasons I just had to take the rest of the night off."

James, who also missed three games with a left foot injury before making a comeback last Wednesday, had just said before the game how important his health will be as he tries to lift the Lakers into the playoffs over the next two months.

"The most important thing for me right now is to maintain my health and be available to my teammates after this break because we have to make a strong push if we want to do anything special," James said.

"It's 23 of the most important games of my career for a regular season."

The Lakers have struggled to a 27-32 start and rank 13th in the Western Conference.

That's two games behind Oklahoma City for 10th and the last spot in the post-season play-in games and 3.5 games behind sixth-place Dallas for the last guaranteed playoff spot.

"I want to make a push to make the playoffs," James said. "I don't want to see myself not being part of the post-season for two years straight. It's just not part of my DNA.

"We're sitting up here talking about the record and things of