It appears LeBron James’ absence from the Lakers’ lineup will be a short one.
After suffering an elbow injury against the Nuggets on Thursday, LeBron missed Friday’s game against the Pacers. On Saturday’s injury report, he was listed as questionable for the game with both a left elbow contusion and left foot arthritis.
Prior to that contest against Indiana, head coach JJ Redick noted that the
expectation is LeBron will be available on Sunday.
“LeBron has a contusion,” Redick said. “He’s still banged up, but we think he’ll be available for Sunday.”
The Lakers will play the Knicks in a matinee game starting at 12:30 p.m. PT. It’s a quicker-than-normal game, so it changes everyone’s routines. In some senses, it could be a positive that LeBron missed Friday’s game as that means he has a bit of extra time to recover.
LeBron didn’t seem too concerned about his injury following Thursday’s game when speaking to the media.
“It’s pretty sore right now,” LeBron said. “What was I feeling? Feeling like one of them funny bone situations but super more intense.”
Largely because of his injury at the beginning of the season, LeBron is already ineligible for postseason awards as he will not meet the 65-game minimum. It’s been a trying year for him and the Lakers when it comes to injuries.
Ayton being off the injury report is also notable. The big man played just 4:30 against Denver and sat out against the Pacers. At this point in the year, he has dealt with soreness in both knees, so it’ll be something to monitor the rest of the season.
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