The Los Angeles Lakers have listed LeBron James (left ankle peroneal tendinopathy) as questionable and Cam Reddish (right ankle sprain) and Anthony Davis (bilateral Achilles tendinopathy) as probable for Saturday night’s game against the Denver Nuggets.
Gabe Vincent, Christian Wood, Colin Castleton and Jarred Vanderbilt all remain out with their respective injuries with no set timetable for a return.
James received a treatment on his injured ankle over the All-Star break and has been able to play the last four games after missing one against the Golden State Warriors. That includes playing in both ends of a back-to-back where LeBron led the Lakers to a comeback victory over the L.A. Clippers and then led them to an overtime win over the Washington Wizards.
With that being the case, James will likely suit up against the Nuggets given the magnitude of the game and where the Lakers are in the standings.
Additionally, James is just nine points away from reaching 40,000 for his career and surely would love to get there on Saturday night.
Reddish’s status on the injury report is not a surprise as he recently missed a month with the ankle sprain before returning against the Clippers. Reddish was able to suit up the following night against the Wizards but was only able to play four minutes with head coach Darvin Ham revealing that his ankle was still a little sore.
While it’s clear that Reddish’s ankle is still in the process of getting back to 100% and that’s the top priority, it would be good to have his perimeter defense against Denver.
The Nuggets could be without a key piece as well as Jamal Murray injured his ankle in Denver’s contest against the Miami Heat on Thursday night. Murray has torched the Lakers over the past year so his status will definitely be something worth monitoring leading up to tipoff.
LeBron James willing to ‘pick my spots’ in tough defensive matchups for Lakers
With ace defenders like Jarred Vanderbilt and Cam Reddish dealing with injuries, LeBron James has been tasked at times with guarding the opposing teams best player. Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard are recent examples of that, and James said he is willing to ‘pick my spots’ with tough defensive matchups.
While James cannot guard opposing stars for 48 minutes, it’s awesome that he is willing to take on that challenge at times to help the Lakers down the stretch of the season.
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