The San Antonio Spurs will host the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night in a clash between two of the top three teams in the Western Conference. Both teams are looking to continue their positive momentum, but the Lakers and Spurs are facing some injury concerns with LeBron James and Victor Wembanyama, respectively.
James has not missed a game in recent weeks, and he is coming off a 30-8-8 game against the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday, a game Los Angeles won 111-103 for its fourth victory in its last five games. However, in the second night of a back-to-back, LeBron will not play in San Antonio due to left foot joint arthritis and his ongoing right sciatica issue.
Since making his season debut in mid-November, James has not played in any of the Lakers' back-to-backs.
Wembanyama has been battling through left knee soreness since hyperextending his knee against the New York Knicks on Dec. 31. After missing two games with his knee soreness and bone bruise, Wemby returned to the court on Tuesday, scoring 30 points in 21 minutes off the bench in a 106-105 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.
Wembanyama will play on Wednesday night against the Lakers despite dealing with the same left knee issue. Head coach Mitch Johnson offered confidence in his young talent's potential of playing back-to-back games, claming Wembanyama “came out pretty good” in terms of his health on Tuesday.
If the Spurs' young star misses this game, it will be his 15th absence of the 2025-26 season, meaning he would only be allowed to miss two more games the rest of the year to remain eligible for postseason honors. LeBron has missed 16 games this season, meaning he can only miss one more game to remain eligible for All-NBA honors and keep his streak of 21 straight years making the All-NBA lit alive.
Both the Lakers and Spurs have been cautious with their stars battling through various injuries this season, which is why James and Wembanyama could wind up sitting out this key Western Conference duel on Wednesday night, the second game in as many days for both teams.
A win by the Lakers ties them with the Spurs in the West standings for the 2-seed, while a win by the home team inches them closer to the Oklahoma City Thunder at the top of the standings. San Antonio, which has defeated Oklahoma City three times already this season, enters Wednesday night's battle with Los Angeles just 4.5 games back of the Thunder.
