Los Angeles Lakers veteran LeBron James will remain sidelined this week as the team takes on the Los Angeles Clippers and Portland Trail Blazers in the coming days.
Lakers star LeBron James is expected to miss back-to back games on Thursday (Clippers) and Friday (Blazers) to rest his right ankle, sources tell ESPN. James will proceed cautiously with ankle injury as playoffs approach.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 4, 2021
James, 36, recently returned to action after missing a bunch of games due to an ankle injury.
However, the four-time MVP sat out against the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday. The Lakers squeezed out a win against the Nuggets by a score of 93-89.
Still, the Lakers have a ton of work to do. The squad holds a 37-28 record and is the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference.
They will face tough competitors in the Clippers and Trail Blazers, who are both jockeying for playoff seeding. In addition to the Lakers being without James, they will not have starting guard Dennis Schroder available either.
Should the Lakers slip in the standings, they could be forced to compete in the play-in tournament. James recently bashed the idea of the polarizing event.
James is putting up 25.0 points, 7.9 boards and 7.8 assists per contest this season.
