LeBron James turned in another incredible performance for the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday night. He paced L.A. with a massive 30-point, 15-assist double-double, to go along with nine rebounds, a steal and one three-pointer in 39 minutes of action.
It still wasn’t enough. With both Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves sidelined with injuries, not even James’ heroics were enough to carry the Lakers. L.A. suffered its second straight loss, falling to Cooper Flagg and the Dallas Mavericks, 134-128.
Things only get tougher for the shorthanded Lakers. Up next for them is a home matchup against the defending champs, the Oklahoma City Thunder, on Tuesday.
Thomas Shea-Imagn Images
This will be the Lakers’ second matchup against OKC in the span of six days. L.A. suffered a humiliating blowout loss to the Thunder on the road on Thursday, 139-96.
The bad news for the Lakers is that they could be without James on Tuesday night. This is after the NBA’s all-time leading scorer popped up on the injury report ahead of the highly anticipated contest.
The Lakers announced on Monday via the injury report that James is officially questionable to play on Tuesday against OKC. The 41-year-old was added to the report for left foot injury management.
It does not seem like James sustained a new injury against the Mavs. It’s possible that the Lakers choose to give him the night off on Tuesday.
It is worth noting that while James has been a consistent fixture in L.A.’s injury reports this season, he was not listed on the same ahead of Sunday’s game against Dallas. The Lakers have upgraded James from questionable to available multiple times this year, but it remains to be seen if this will be the case again for Tuesday’s contest.
The Lakers are currently 50-28 and slipped to No. 4 in the Western Conference. after the Denver Nuggets jump to 51-28 following Monday's 137-132 overtime win over the Portland Trail Blazers. Including Tuesday’s matchup against OKC, the Lakers have four games left in the regular season.
