The Los Angeles Lakers announced LeBron James (left foot injury management) has been downgraded to out for Tuesday night’s rematch against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Lakers are already without stars Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves for the remainder of the regular season, and likely the start of the playoffs. Then, on Monday, LeBron James popped up on the injury report, originally being listed as questionable before being ruled out along with Marcus Smart. That means the Lakers will be without their four top playmakers.
The Thunder have already dominated the Lakers in the season series, 3-0. Two of the games were complete blowouts, despite the Lakers being relatively healthy. And while the Lakers desperately need a win to stay afloat for the No. 3 seed against the Denver Nuggets, the Thunder also need a win.
Despite being 62-16 with four games left, the Thunder still have to win to secure the No. 1 seed in the conference. The San Antonio Spurs are three games back in the loss column with three games left on their schedule, but they own the tiebreaker over the Thunder. The Spurs would move to No. 1 if both teams had a 63-19 record at the end of the season.
The Thunder are one Spurs loss away or two of their own wins away from locking up the top spot in the West. And they will face a Lakers team missing all three of their best players in Doncic, Reaves and James.
The Lakers, meanwhile, own the tiebreaker with the Nuggets, meaning they just need to keep pace with them down the stretch. They are tied in the loss column ahead of Tuesday’s game, but will all but certainly be one loss down after.
James should be back to lead the Lakers into their final three games against the Golden State Warriors, Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz. All three are in theory winnable without Doncic and Reaves, especially is Smart is able to play as well. The Nuggets, meanwhile, play the Memphis Grizzlies, Thunder and Spurs. It remains to be seen if Denver can be perfect to finish the season.
LeBron James had relatable reaction to Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves injuries
James described finding out about Doncic’s injury as a shot to the heart, chest and mainframe. He then took a nap, only to wake up to the Reaves news, which he described as a shot to the head. James now becomes the primary figure for the Lakers entering the playoffs, and it remains to be seen what L.A. can accomplish.
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