Early reports from ESPN's Dave McMenamin following Saturday's loss in Boston indicated that LeBron James, who left in the fourth quarter with a groin injury, would miss time measured in weeks, not days.
Sunday, we learned that was true... but the the news was still about as good as it could be. James is expected to miss 1-2 weeks, though there's an "at least" thrown in to keep everyone honest (and slightly concerned). But while there's still enough uncertainty in the timeline to keep everyone from getting comfortable, that estimates begin on the shorter end is unquestionably positive. Plenty of Lakers fans were concerned that "at least" might come before a three or four week estimate, or even longer. James missed nearly 20 games in his first season with the Lakers after hurting that same groin, and it basically undid LA's season.
Something like that again would have basically erased the rest of the regular season.
Instead, the Lakers appear, for now, to have dodged a bullet.
That said, the injury news still isn't great. The Lakers are banged up, to say the least. Rui Hachimura is still out and won't play on the road trip. Dorian Finney-Smith is out for tonight's game against the Nets with an ankle injury. Jaxson Hayes is questionable, and — here's the headliner — so is Luka Dončić. LA's newest star is nursing a sore back, one that was clearly bugging him against the C's over the weekend.
Needless to say, the Lakers have to play things safe with Luka and LeBron, in the short term (sit Luka, even if it means losing an otherwise winnable game against a bad Brooklyn team) and long term as well. The Lakers have made a remarkable run up the Western Conference standings. But as cool as it would be to finish 2nd (and the Lakers are again the two-seed after Denver lost to OKC Sunday), what really matters isn't the 2, or even the 3, 4, 5, and 6. It's avoiding the 7th seed, which puts the Lakers back in the play in.
They have a large enough cushion to keep that from happening, so until their status in the top 6 is truly threatened, health has to be the priority. That's likely how the Lakers will play it.
HOSTS: Andy and Brian KamenetzkySEGMENT 1: The Lakers could be without LeBron for a couple weeks. SEGMENT 2: What changes with James out of the lineup? SEGMENT 3: Health is what matters.
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