Plus some additional L.A. injury updates.
Your Los Angeles Lakers could be getting their two priciest players back from injuries as soon as Friday when the team faces the lowly Charlotte Hornets, Marc Stein reports.
Per Stein, James, who missed the team’s game Monday with a sore left ankle but suited up yesterday in a lopsided loss to the Sacramento Kings, has been listed as probable to suit up. Russell Westbrook (making $47.1 million this season), who sat out the Lakers’ past two losses with a sore left foot, has also been upgraded to probable.
Austin Reaves, who rolled his ankle in the team’s Sunday 119-117 win against the Washington Wizards and has not played since, is currently questionable to play tomorrow. Given that he is probably, at worst, the team’s fifth-best player, it would behoove L.A. to have him available for one of the team’s most winnable games in this stretch! The Hornets, at 8-24, look to be firmly in the Tank-O-Rama For Wembanyama phase of their 2022-23 season already.
L.A.’s current injury report also has some less happy news, indicating that Juan Toscano-Anderson remains out with the right ankle sprain that has kept him sidelined for two weeks. JTA has not been available for the Lakers since December 7th, in the team’s 126-113 road loss to the Toronto Raptors.
Anthony Davis, of course, is still unavailable, with an injury now being described as “right foot soreness,” although it sure sounds worse than that if he’s expected to miss at least a month with the ailment.
