Some late, breaking news on Thursday afternoon: LeBron James has been downgraded to questionable for the Los Angeles Lakers' clash with the Philadelphia 76ers at the Wells Fargo Center, just hours before tip-off. Left knee soreness was cited by the Lakers as the reason for his surprise inclusion on the injury report.
LeBron did not mention any knee soreness after the Lakers' win over the Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday. LeBron was flying around the court and brilliant once again at the Barclays Center, dropping 33 points on 14-of-21 shooting, plus seven rebounds and six assists. He put the game away with thunderous breakaway slams on consecutive possessions in the fourth quarter — not his only above-the-rim highlights in the game:
Goodnight, Brooklynpic.twitter.com/p8dYRaBSo7 https://t.co/irge9wXT7U
— Michael Corvo (@michaelcorvoNBA) January 26, 2022
Lakers head coach Frank Vogel will address the media about 90 minutes before tip-off in Philly, so we should get some more information then. One factor that could determine his status for the Sixers game: the Lakers will travel to face the Charlotte Hornets on Friday, then the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday.
Ironically — and perhaps fittingly, based on the way this Lakers' season has gone — LeBron's injury designation comes less than 48 hours after Anthony Davis made his much-needed return to the court after missing 17 games with a left knee injury (MCL sprain). In fact, the Lakers' status report had looked as clean as it has all season, when it was initially released on Wednesday. The Nets contest was the first game in which LeBron was not listed as either questionable or probable with a rectus abdominis strain since returning from an eight-game absence (due to the ab strain) in November:
This relatively clean status report lasted about 24 hours. Lakers just announced LeBron James is now questionable for the 76ers game tonight with left knee soreness. https://t.co/eLiSMhZuE4
— Michael Corvo (@michaelcorvoNBA) January 27, 2022
Los Angeles (24-24) has started off its season-defining road trip 2-1, with wins over the Orlando Magic and Brooklyn, plus a loss to the Miami Heat.
James hasn't missed a game since Nov. 30, when he was forced to fly home before a matchup with the Sacramento Kings due to a false positive COVID-19 test. In 36 games in his 19th season, the 37-year-old is playing MVP-level ball: 29.1 points, 7.7 rebounds, 6.3 assists, 58.8% eFG.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1qIX7eVct5X13TtRu0XDFg?si=bf9f6fab834247ae
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