Brian Windhorst gets brutally honest about where he expects healthy Lakers to stack up

Luka Doncic, the team's leading scorer, has missed 12 games this season. The Lakers have gone 6-6 in his absence, compared to 27-15 with him in the lineup. Austin Reaves, who is the second-leading scorer on the roster, has been sidelined for 26 contests after mainly dealing with a left calf issue.

James, on the other hand, will see his historic streak of being eligible for NBA awards come to an end after missing 18 games. Despite that, James became the oldest player in league history to record a triple-double in Thursday night's win over the Dallas Mavericks, something that was not lost on Windhorst.

"Just enjoy the season. Enjoy that on a Thursday night, when their star player's out, (LeBron James) puts up a triple-double," Windhorst said. "Everybody who came to that game last night loved what they saw from LeBron James. He scored or assisted on the first 23 points. That's where you are as a Lakers organization right now."

The Lakers have had a pair of three-game losing streaks this season, but despite all the injuries to their star players, they are still in the top half of the Western Conference standings and 1.5 games back of the Nuggets for third-place.

This has been a much different season for James, who has taken on more of a reduced role when Doncic and Reaves are both on the floor. However, it is moments like Thursday that serve as a reminder of James' talent and why he is one of the all-time greats to ever play the game.

For a team that ranks 14th in scoring offense (116 PPG) and 18th in scoring defense (116 PPG), it is clear the small margin of error the Lakers have, even when they are healthy. How James performs could be the difference in how far they can go, but it all comes back to the overall health of the lineup.

Assuming the Lakers maintain their playoff positioning, it may simply come down to their matchups and if the roster is fully healthy at that time. Even if that is the case, it is still hard to view them as title threats with a starting five that has rarely been on the floor together this season.