The Los Angeles Lakers will head into an important matchup against the Denver Nuggets on Sunday afternoon without LeBron James, who is sitting out due to an ankle sprain, head coach Frank Vogel confirmed ahead of tipoff. James missed two games last week due to the injury, but did play Friday in a loss against the Pelicans.
L.A. is on the brink of missing the play-in tournament entirely as it sits a game behind the San Antonio Spurs for the 10th spot in the West, so being without James for this game is a crucial loss for the Lakers. LeBron has been dealing with this nagging ankle injury for quite some time, and he’s mostly played through it. So it’s surprising that he’s expected to miss this game given how important it is to the Lakers’ chances of making the postseason.
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With a brutal schedule to end the season that includes matchups against the Suns, Warriors, and another meeting with the Nuggets, the Lakers’ play-in odds seem incredibly grim. And because the Spurs own the season tiebreaker over them, the Lakers are actually two games back of San Antonio, making the distance to make up incredibly difficult in the final stretch of games.
This season has not gone the way the Lakers hoped, as injuries have hindered stars like LeBron and Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook’s fit has been a problem. L.A.’s also gone from the top-ranked defense a season ago, to 22nd in the league this year, while also having the fifth-worst offense in the NBA.
If the Lakers miss the playoffs, which feels like a real possibility especially if LeBron continues to miss games, then L.A. will enter the offseason with some important questions to answer as it tries to get back to contending for championships in James’ twilight years.
