Can Los Angeles begin a new win streak tomorrow?
Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times reports that forward Troy Brown Jr. (left quad strain) and LeBron James (left ankle soreness) have been upgraded to probable ahead of LA’s next game, tomorrow against the Dallas Mavericks.
Woike adds that Patrick Beverley, who exited the Lakers’ Monday loss to the Denver Nuggets with a right hip injury, before missing today’s practice with a non-COVID-19 illness, is merely questionable to suit up tomorrow.
Los Angeles still has some other longer-term absences already penciled in ahead of tomorrow’s contest. Anthony Davis will miss a 14th straight game due to that pesky right foot stress injury, while critical two-way swingmen Lonnie Walker IV (left knee tendinitis) and Austin Reaves (left hamstring strain) remain shelved as well.
If James were deemed unavailable to lace up his Nikes tomorrow, and with Davis, Reaves and Walker out, it would be hard to see the Lakers mounting much of a challenge against a chippy 23-19 Mavericks club that is currently the 4th seed in a competitive Western Conference. So our fingers are crossed that we see that “probable” status upgraded to “available” at some point tomorrow. At the regular season’s halfway point, the Chosen One, now 38 and in his 20th NBA season, has quietly missed 10 games for LA already.
When healthy, James has been the team’s top scorer, averaging 29.1 points on .510/.295/.756 shooting splits, 8.2 rebounds, 6.7 assists, and one steal a night.
Brown has endeared himself as a valuable role player for the club in 22.4 minutes a game, while splitting his time between the Lakers’ starting lineup and its reserves. He’s averaging 6.5 points on .439/.358/1.000 shooting splits and 3.9 rebounds a game.
