Ahead of the matchup with the Golden State Warriors on Thursday night, the Los Angeles Lakers surprisingly ruled out superstar forward LeBron James. The three-time NBA champion is reportedly dealing with a sore groin, which is concerning considering that's the injury that derailed the team's season in 2018-19.
Even without LeBron on the floor against the Warriors, the Lakers still took care of business with Anthony Davis and Kyle Kuzma picking up the slack for the injured superstar. Los Angeles went on to win in convincing fashion blowing out Golden State on their home floor by 30 points.
After the Lakers secured their seventh straight win, head coach Frank Vogel spoke to the media and provided an update on LeBron and whether he'd be able to take the floor for the rest of the three-game road trip, via Spectrum SportsNet.
"We just raised our level in that third quarter."
Frank Vogel on the second half, @kylekuzma's night and the #Lakers defense. pic.twitter.com/01uIKgMdvr
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) February 28, 2020
“Just dealing with some soreness,” Vogel said of James' injury. “We're still two days away from that. We'll see what he feels like on Saturday morning. See how he's feeling.”
Los Angeles will face the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday and play the second game of a back-to-back on Sunday against Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans. Both of these games are winnable without James back on the floor, but it remains to be seen whether the soreness is a significant issue or merely load management.
As a result of the win over the Warriors, the Lakers are still sporting a healthy lead at the top of the Western Conference standings. Los Angeles is five and a half games ahead of the Denver Nuggets and don't look as if they'll be losing their position as the top seed in the West any time soon.
However, it is the final stretch of the regular season, and the Lakers will emphasize being healthy for the playoffs. This may result in LeBron and Anthony Davis potentially missing games in order to have them ready for a potentially long postseason run.
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