The Los Angeles Lakers’ injury report for their In-Season Tournament semifinal matchup with the New Orleans Pelicans features four players.
Anthony Davis (left abductor/hip spasm) and Jarred Vanderbilt (left heel bursitis) are both listed as probable, while LeBron James is listed as questionable with a left calf contusion. Lastly, Gabe Vincent has been ruled out of the game with left knee effusion. Vincent appeared in the first four games for the Lakers on the season, but he’s been sidelined since.
The final statuses for Davis, Vanderbilt and James will be determined and announced sometime prior to tipoff on Thursday. Lakers coach Darvin Ham will obviously hope to have all three guys available.
The Lakers pulled out a 106-103 victory over the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday night in order to set up the matchup with the Pelicans, while the Pelicans defeated the Sacramento Kings in order to advance to the semifinals. The game between the two teams will take place in Las Vegas. The Lakers have gone a perfect 5-0 in tournament play so far, while the Pelicans have a record of 4-1.
The winner of the game between the Lakers and Pelicans will move on to the tournament championship, which will take place on Saturday night. The winner of the contest between the Lakers and Pelicans will square off against the victor of the Eastern Conference semifinal game between the Milwaukee Bucks and Indiana Pacers. That game will take place prior to the game between L.A. and New Orleans on Thursday night.
Once the tournament is over, the Lakers will return to their regular season schedule next week. They will travel to Texas for a game against Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night, and then they will play two straight games against the San Antonio Spurs at Frost Bank Center.
After that, they’ll host the New York Knicks and then head out on the road for a few games to play against the Chicago Bulls, Minnesota Timberwolves and Oklahoma City Thunder before returning to L.A. to host the Boston Celtics on Christmas Day.
That will be the first of two games between the Lakers and Celtics this season. The two longtime rivals will also square off against each other on Feb. 1 in Boston.
