The Los Angeles Lakers won’t have stars Anthony Davis or LeBron James in action on Thursday night against the Boston Celtics, but there is a positive update on the players going forward.
According to ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski, the Lakers “hope” to get at least one of James or Davis back in the lineup for the team’s game on Saturday night against the New York Knicks.
Davis (bilateral Achilles tendinopathy and left hip spasm) and James (left ankle peroneal tendinopathy) are both currently dealing with injuries.
Woj on NBA Today just now: “The hope is” the Lakers will get “one or both” of LeBron and AD back Saturday night in NY
— Tommy Beer (@TommyBeer) February 1, 2024
It would be ideal for the Lakers to get Davis and James back on Saturday, especially since the team has dropped back-to-back games heading into Thursday’s matchup in Boston.
The Lakers may have a better chance to beat the Knicks if James and Davis play since New York is down two-time All-Star forward Julius Randle due to a dislocated shoulder that he suffered against the Miami Heat.
Randle is set to miss his third straight game on Thursday, as he’s listed as out for the Knicks against the Indiana Pacers.
According to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, both James and Davis participated in the Lakers’ shootaround on Thursday, which could be a sign that both players aren’t too far off from returning to action.
“James and Davis participated in shootaround Thursday with the hope of improving as the day went on, team sources told ESPN,” McMenamin wrote.
Davis, who has played in 46 games this season for the Lakers, also missed the team’s game against the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night. That game was the second night of a back-to-back for Los Angeles.
James played in both legs of the back-to-back for the Lakers this week, but the team lost to both the Houston Rockets and Hawks. That pushed the Lakers back under .500 with a 24-25 record on the season.
Los Angeles currently holds the No. 9 seed in the Western Conference, so it can’t really afford to lose James or Davis for an extended period of time. Even though the Lakers are in the play-in tournament picture right now, there is no guarantee that they stay there.
The team is just one game up on Houston, which currently holds the No. 11 seed in the West.
It’ll be interesting to see how the Lakers list James and Davis on their injury report for Saturday’s game against New York.
