As the Los Angeles Lakers begin their six-game road trip, LeBron James will be out for the first game of the trip.
The Los Angeles Lakers will be starting their six-game road trip against the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday night. While the Lakers are still at home in Los Angeles, this will be the start of their road trip wit the Clippers as the home team.
Unfortunately for the Lakers, they will once again be without LeBron James in this game. James has missed the last 17 games, and Thursday will mark the 18th straight game that he has missed. During that span, the Lakers have a 6-11 record and have fallen in the Western Conference standings.
While James won’t be playing against the Clippers, the good news is that James did participate in a full practice.
LeBron James (strained groin) went through a full practice today but will not play in tomorrow’s game vs. the Clippers, Lakers announced.
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) January 30, 2019
Even though James might not be playing against the Clippers, his return could be coming up very soon. The fact that James went through a full practice means that he is very close to returning.
After the Clippers, the Lakers will still be on the West Coast, as they have a big showdown with the Golden State Warriors. That certainly wouldn’t be the easiest game for James to return in, but it could be the day we finally see him back.
As an MVP caliber player, the Lakers could certainly use LeBron back in the lineup, and the sooner it happens, the higher the chance they have to make the playoffs. While they have fallen down the standings considerably, they were the 4th seed in the West prior to the injury to LeBron.
In addition to LeBron being out, Kyle Kuzma has also missed the last two games with a hip strain. Like LeBron, the Lakers hope that Kuzma will be healthy soon, and he hasn’t been ruled out yet for the game against the Clippers. If the Lakers can once again get healthy, they can still be a dangerous team in the Western Conference. Hopefully, we see that happen soon.