LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers have been the subject of a lot of criticism this season. Despite boasting the best record in the Western Conference, there are various pundits out there who don’t think the Lakers can beat teams that are above .500. On the contrary, they actually have the most wins against above .500 teams in the entire league. Regardless, when the Lakers took on the Houston Rockets Saturday, without Anthony Davis, not many people were giving them a chance. In the end, the Lakers came out on top thanks to a 31-point performance from James.

After the game, LeBron was asked about his team’s performance against a high-ranking team. At one point, James got sarcastic with reporters as he made light of the talking points that have surrounded the team since the beginning of the season. 

“No, because we can’t beat teams with winning records. That’s what they say, right?” LeBron asked. “It’s good wins for us. It’s really good wins for us … It doesn’t matter who we’re playing. It doesn’t matter if it’s a playoff team, not a playoff team, it’s just about that moment right then and there. You want to take that challenge no matter if the team is in the playoffs or the team is not in the playoffs.”

After Saturday’s win, the Lakers boast a record of 34-8 which is good enough for first in the West, by a significant margin. Tonight, the Lakers will look to win two-straight as they take on the Boston Celtics.