The Los Angeles Lakers have listed LeBron James (left ankle peroneal tendinopathy) as probable and Anthony Davis (back spams) as questionable for Tuesday’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans, the first matchup of the NBA Play-In Tournament.
Christian Wood, Jalen Hood-Schifino and Jarred Vanderbilt all remain out with their respective injuries with no set timetable for a return, although Vanderbilt is continuing to make progress.
Given the importance of this game with the Lakers having a chance to clinch the seventh seed in the Western Conference going into the playoffs, it is not surprising to see that both James and Davis will likely be available for their team.
James, in particular, has been feeling as healthy as he has in years and his play has reflected it. He dominated the Pelicans in the regular season finale by playing stellar defense on Zion Williamson and finishing with 28 points, 11 rebounds, 17 assists and five steals in a blowout victory.
On the other hand, Davis’ status for Tuesday’s game seemed to be in jeopardy a bit after he tweaked his back late in the win over New Orleans on Sunday.
Davis was pushed in the back by Larry Nance Jr. while going up for an offensive rebounding and came down in pain, being forced to leave the game. Davis stated afterwards though that he expects to be able to play in the Play-In Tournament game versus New Orleans, and now after having a day to assess how he feels, it luckily appears that will be the case.
If the Lakers are going to beat a tough Pelicans team on the road for a second straight game then they will need both of their stars healthy and playing at a high level. James and Davis were able to exploit New Orleans’ lack of size in the dominant victory on Sunday and now they will look to use their physicality to their advantage again in a pseudo playoff game for the seventh seed in the West.
LeBron James & Lakers treating second matchup with Pelicans like playoff series
It’s not often that two teams square off two games in a row in the NBA unless it’s during the playoffs. That is happening for the Lakers and Pelicans though as after Sunday’s game, they both stayed in New Orleans to get ready for Tuesday’s Play-In Tournament.
LeBron James has been in this scenario plenty of times throughout his postseason career though where he plays back-to-back road games against the same opponent. Winning both those games can be challenging, but James and the Lakers are treating it like a playoff series in order to get themselves prepared properly.
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