The Los Angeles Lakers have been rolling as of late. The team is 4-1 with the post-trade deadline new-look roster and is 3-0 in games that LeBron James played with this new supporting cast.
Sunday’s win over the Dallas Mavericks was arguably the best of the entire season. Los Angeles came back from a 27-point deficit on national television to send a statement to the rest of the league: they are the team nobody wants to play in the playoffs.
LA still needs to do plenty of work to get into the playoffs (even if they are already looking ahead at potential first-round opponents). The team is going to need its superstars in order to get to the playoffs and unfortunately, the road is going to get harder as LeBron James is going to miss even more time for the purple and gold as he was listed as OUT vs the Grizzlies.
It is much worse than LeBron just missing one game, though. There are legitimate concerns that LeBron could be out for an extended period of time, which puts this entire playoff push in jeopardy.
Sources: There's fear Lakers star LeBron James is likely to miss an extended period of time with his right foot injury. James suffered the injury in Sunday's win over Dallas, played through it, and belief is he will be sidelined an indefinite amount.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 28, 2023
LeBron James injury update is awful for Lakers.
The next five games for the Lakers are extremely important and not having James play could derail the rest of the season for the Lake Show. This is about as bad of news as fans could have received after such a heartwarming win over Dallas.
The only silver lining is that this happened now and not right before the NBA Playoffs. If the team can win games without LeBron then they could be in great shape once he returns. But that is a big if.
Full Lakers injury report vs Grizzlies:
LeBron James is not the only superstar on the injury report for the Lakers. Anthony Davis also sees his name on the report but that is business as usual for the star forward. Davis has been on the report every game since he returned from his foot injury for precautionary reasons. Davis is listed as probable.
D’Angelo Russell also rolled his ankle in the first game back from the all-star break and while it does not appear to be as serious as initially thought, he too may not suit up against the Grizzlies. Russell has been listed as doubtful.
Lakers injury update for Tuesday in Memphis:
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) February 27, 2023
Davis: probable
LeBron: out (right foot soreness)
Russell: doubtful (right ankle sprain)
Every game is a must-win for the Lake Show with only 21 remaining. Hopefully, they can shock the Grizzlies without LeBron and get some momentum because if not, things could get ugly.