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Fittingly, the Los Angeles Lakers are entering the final weekend of the regular season with uncertainty surrounding LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
L.A. is traveling East for a back-to-back against the Indiana Pacers (Sat. 10 a.m. PT) and New Orleans Pelicans (Sun. 6 p.m. PT). In his post-practice Zoom before heading to the plane, Lakers head coach Frank Vogel provided updates on James, Davis, and Dennis Schröder, who haven't suited up together since April 30.
“He did practice today,” Vogel said on LeBron. “Gonna be listed as questionable for tomorrow. We want to see how he feels in response to today's work, like always. But there's a chance that he plays if things go well.”
James missed 20 games with a high right ankle sprain, then returned for two before re-aggravating the injury. He's missed the past six games, despite indications that he would return mid-week. Instead, James opted to take extra rest.
LeBron officially rules himself out for tonight. Seems well-sourced https://t.co/y6YLOSwuN8
— Michael Corvo (@michaelcorvo_) May 12, 2021
As for Davis, Vogel said the All-Star is “going to be listed as probable. He did not practice today, just did some one-on-one work.”
Moments later, AD gave an encouraging update on his condition. “I feel fine, feel great. Went through some things during practice, not everything…Got some work in on the side. Feel great today.”
Vogel also confirmed Dennis Schröder's own revelation that he has cleared health and safety protocols.
“He's available. We'll make a decision tomorrow as to whether he's able to (play). He did not practice today. He's done, like Anthony, one-on-zero workouts with a coach.”
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Dennis Schroder: “I’m back” pic.twitter.com/N3bbuOWSTX
— Michael Corvo (@michaelcorvo_) May 13, 2021
The Lakers have played a grand total of one game with James, Davis, Schröder, and Andre Drummond all in the lineup. Even if everybody returns for this weekend and they end up in the play-in tournament, the defending champions will be forced to find a groove on the fly.
“Anytime you have guys that have been out for extended absences and they're returning to play, it's always going to be a little bit imperfect,” Vogel said. “So the more minutes we can get those guys, the better off it's going to be for us, in terms of the readjustment period. If we're able to do that, that'd be great. I don't know if that's going to be a possibility.”
Davis is hopeful that productive communication can help establish cohesion with Drummond and the other bigs.
“Obviously, we don't have a lot of game reps because the rotation is always changing depending on the matchup and the game. But, us four — the three centers and myself — are constantly talking. When I'm on the bench, or the time I wasn't playing and they were playing, we constantly was in talks about our spots on the floor…What I like to see when I have the ball, when they have the ball what I like to do to get open…It makes it a lot easier when you're constantly talking to each other and trying to figure things out.”
Anthony Davis thinks he & Andre Drummond can develop Lob City chemistry (Q: @hmfaigen)
"Drum just brings that physicality. He gets us extras possessions. He's able to duck in, that lob threat. Kind of like that Blake-DeAndre thing they had a couple years back with the Clippers."
— Michael Corvo (@michaelcorvo_) May 14, 2021
The Lakers (40-30) will need to finish 2-0 and hope Portland loses to the Denver Nuggets on Sunday in order to avoid play-in fate. L.A. can also swap places with the Dallas Mavericks if Luka Doncic and company fall to the Toronto Raptors and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
