LOS ANGELES — LeBron James is the latest Lakers star deemed unavailable – for one game, at least.
James joined Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and Marcus Smart as out for Tuesday night’s game against the league-leading Oklahoma City Thunder when the Lakers downgraded the 41-year-old star with left foot injury management. James has played through, and dealt with, left foot discomfort throughout the regular season, and he rested it Tuesday ahead of the team’s upcoming stretch of three games in four days before the postseason begins.
Reaves (Grade 2 left oblique muscle injury) and Doncic (Grade 2 left hamstring strain) suffered their regular-season-ending injuries during the Lakers’ loss to the reigning champion Thunder on Thursday – which snowballed into a winless two-game trip after the Lakers lost to the Dallas Mavericks, 134-128, on Sunday.
Lakers coach JJ Redick on Tuesday night addressed Doncic’s trip to Spain to try and expedite his rehabilitation process and return for playoff games sooner, saying that he would not specify how long the Slovenian star was expected to be overseas.
“I think he’s in good spirits,” Redick said. “In my conversations with him, he’s motivated to do everything possible. And I know for him, it’s hard for him not to be on a basketball court. That’s his happy place. And he’s one of the handful of guys that really play year-round.”
“And it’s not just international competition. He likes to be in the gym. He likes to be working on his craft. And I think it’s hard for him. He wants to get back on the court,” Redick added.
Smart missed his eighth consecutive game with a right ankle contusion, with Redick continuing to call the point guard “day to day” since he suffered the injury during their victory over the Orlando Magic on March 21. Redick said pregame that Smart is “trending toward playing sometime this week,” after having tuned back his on-the-court activities during his rehabilitation process before revamping.
“We thought he’d be back by now,” Redick said. “It’s not that he had a setback last week. He was doing on-court work and he wanted to dial it back. So he had a great day today on the court.”
Backup center Jaxson Hayes was also downgraded to out with left foot soreness in the hour before Tuesday’s game.
The decision to give James time to manage his foot’s health before the playoffs might be related to usage. The 41-year-old played 39 minutes on Sunday – only one fewer than swingman Luke Kennard, who recorded his first-career triple-double in his second start for the team – and tallied 30 points, 15 assists and nine rebounds in the loss to Dallas. James attempted 22 shots, his most in a game since Dec. 20, when he attempted 28 in a loss to the Clippers.
Much of the Lakers’ offense, now without Doncic and Reaves, will run through James. On Tuesday, however, against the Thunder, who beat them by 43 points last week, Redick was going to need an offense-by-committee approach. Only center Deandre Ayton remained from the Lakers’ preferred starting five during their 15-2 March run.
Oklahoma City won its first three games against the Lakers this season. The last time the Lakers played without Doncic, Reaves, James and Smart, they were crushed by the second-place San Antonio Spurs, 136-108, on Feb. 10.
The Lakers are in fourth place in the Western Conference entering Tuesday’s game, and will drop a full game behind the Denver Nuggets (51-28) should they lose to the Thunder – a likely outcome considering the Lakers’ lack of scoring production available. The Lakers and the fifth-place Houston Rockets could be tied by the end of Tuesday night, though the Lakers hold a head-to-head tiebreaker that would leave them as the No. 4 seed for the moment.
Redick called the situation the Lakers are in “unique” and that the team’s focus is preparing the squad that will be available for the playoffs in a little more than a week. After Doncic’s injury, but before Reaves’ was announced, Redick said Saturday that the goal was to try and aim for the No. 3 seed; his tune has changed entirely over the past few days.
“The seeding part probably went out the window after the OKC game,” Redick said.
The Lakers face the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night in San Francisco before returning home to host the Phoenix Suns on Friday for a back-to-back set. Both the Warriors and Suns are headed for the four-team Play-In tournament (seeds 7-10), which starts next Tuesday.
On Sunday, the Lakers will conclude the regular season by hosting the Utah Jazz, who have lost nine consecutive games and are in last place in the West.
MAVS DISPUE CLAIM ABOUT REAVES’ MRI
The Dallas Mavericks released a statement to Dallas media outlet DLLS on Tuesday afternoon, disputing that Reaves’ first MRI on Saturday was incorrectly administered. Redick had said Saturday afternoon that the MRI was conducted on the wrong area of Reaves, resulting in a second MRI to be done Saturday morning that ultimately revealed the Grade 2 left oblique muscle injury.
“Our medical team followed standard imaging protocols based on the information provided at the time,” a Mavericks spokesperson said in a statement to DLLS. “There was no error in the scan performed.”
Redick was asked before Tuesday’s game about the statement from the Mavericks, and shooed away from further back and forth over the MRI.
“Look, I think in the end, we got the image we needed,” Redick said. “And obviously very appreciative, because it’s happened throughout the season whenever the home team is accommodating to us, just like we would be for them. And we’re gonna move on.”
