The Los Angeles Lakers only have six regular-season games remaining as they continue to fight for a spot in the Play-In Tournament. If they want to have any hope of making some noise in the playoffs though, then they will unquestionably need LeBron James and Anthony Davis back healthy.
Davis has been out since the middle of February with a mid-foot sprain, while James has missed the last two games with an ankle sprain of his own.
Perhaps the Lakers’ biggest game of the season is against the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night, and reports have indicated that both James and Davis are planning to suit up if their bodies allow it.
Both will likely be game-time decisions, or will they?
James himself took to social media on Friday to reveal that he is actually going to be out for the rest of the season:
I’m out for the season officially. ??♂️. See y’all in the fall. ?✌?
— LeBron James (@KingJames) April 1, 2022
While a tweet of this nature could make Lakers fans’ hearts stop if it were any other day, that is not the case on Friday. James sent out the tweet on April 1, which of course, is April Fool’s Day.
James has yet to clarify that he was just kidding, although no other insiders have confirmed that he is out for the season yet so it was likely just a joke tweet to have a little fun leading up to his return against the Pelicans on Friday night. Both he and Davis were upgraded from doubtful to questionable for Friday night’s game, however.
While it’s hard to imagine that James will be 100% healthy considering he just suffered the injury this past Sunday, it’s good to see that according to reports, he is at least willing to try to pay given the importance of the game.
Standings update
The Pelicans currently sit in ninth in the West at 33-43 while both the Lakers and San Antonio Spurs are tied for 10th at 31-45. Considering both the Pelicans and Spurs hold tiebreakers over the Lakers, L.A. will have to surpass one of the two if they want to make the Play-In Tournament.
That will be no easy task given the Lakers’ tough schedule to finish out the season, but if they want to have any hope of doing so, James will have to be in the lineup for as many of those games as possible.
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