The Los Angeles Lakers had been surging in the Western Conference standings before injuries to key players thinned out the team’s rotation. The team is currently on a two-game losing streak, but Lakers head coach Darvin Ham offered some good news ahead of the team’s Friday night bout versus the Philadelphia 76ers.
According to Ham, LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Patrick Beverley will all be available for Friday night’s game.
Darvin Ham says Anthony Davis and Patrick Beverley will also return to the lineup tonight, along with LeBron James.
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) December 9, 2022
Darvin Ham said to expect the same starting lineup for a bit, with Schröder, Walker IV, Beverley, LeBron and AD, and with Westbrook coming in on the early side.
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) December 9, 2022
James has been relatively healthy so far this season, missing just seven games so far. There is no denying that the 37-year-old is showing his age, but he remains one of the most dangerous players in the NBA.
He’s currently putting up 25.8 points, 9.1 rebounds and 6.4 assists per game. Of course, him being back in the lineup for the Lakers is a major win.
Though James may be the face of the organization, Davis has asserted himself as the heart and soul of the team.
He’s been on an incredible tear over the last couple of weeks, and it appears that the only thing capable of stopping him was the flu-like symptoms that forced him to leave the team’s loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers after just eight minutes of playing time.
He missed the team’s subsequent game against the Toronto Raptors that ended in a loss as well.
In addition, Beverley missed Wednesday’s loss. Though his absence was obviously not as big of a deal as James and Davis’ were.
Beverley has been pretty disappointing for the Lakers in his first season with the team. He’s averaging just 4.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game on truly horrendous shooting splits of 27.1 percent from the field and 22.0 percent from deep.
Still, it will be good for the Lakers to have him and his defensive acumen back on the floor.
On the season, the Lakers are 10-14 and sitting at the No. 13 seed in the league. With that in mind, they are still just 3.5 games back from the No. 6 seed in the Western Conference.
If the team can get the win tonight and begin another stretch of successful games, it could easily find itself right back in the thick of things in the West.
As for the 76ers, they’ve somewhat stumbled out the gate as well this season and are just 12-12.
