LeBron James will miss Tuesday’s game between the Los Angeles Lakers and Memphis Grizzlies due to right foot soreness, the Lakers announced Monday. D’Angelo Russell, who sat out of Sunday’s thrilling victory over the Dallas Mavericks, is currently listed as doubtful with a right ankle sprain, whereas Anthony Davis, who played on Sunday, is listed as probable. Of the three, James’ injury is by far the most concerning. There’s some fear that James is likely to miss an extended period of time due to this injury, CBS Sports’ Bill Reiter confirms.
James helped lead the Lakers to their biggest comeback in 21 years on Sunday when they overcame a 27-point deficit to stun the Mavericks in Dallas, but that victory came at a cost. James seemingly hurt his foot in the third quarter but stayed in the game to help complete the comeback. He scored 26 points and added eight rebounds and three assists in the victory.
Now, however, the Lakers are reportedly bracing for James to possibly miss multiple weeks while he recovers from this foot injury. That is time the Lakers simply cannot afford to lose. At 29-32, they currently occupy the No. 12 seed in the Western Conference. Their next three games after Tuesday all come against play-in contenders. They face the Thunder on Wednesday, Timberwolves Friday, and Warriors on Sunday.
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The Lakers have a 5-9 record without James this season. They survived an early stretch without him due to the incredible play of Davis, but he is only now rounding back into form after missing almost two months himself. The Lakers defeated the Warriors without James in their first game after trading away Russell Westbrook, but Golden State was missing Stephen Curry.
Now the Lakers will have to rely on Davis and Russell, their new point guard, to keep the team afloat while James recovers. If this injury is as bad as the reports indicate it could be, though, the Lakers are at risk of surrendering too much ground in the standings to survive his absence.