Injury Notes: LeBron, Barnes, Siakam, Beal, Conley

Lakers star LeBron James will miss a fifth consecutive game due to his left groin strain, having been ruled out for Tuesday’s contest vs. the Suns, according to the team (Twitter link via Dave McMenamin of ESPN).

James’ injury initially looked like it might be a death knell for the struggling Lakers, but the club has gone 3-1 without him, perhaps affording him a little extra time to recover. Still, it would certainly qualify as an upset if L.A. is able to pick up a victory tonight in Phoenix.

Here are a few more injury updates from around the NBA:

• Raptors forward Scottie Barnes sat out practice on Tuesday and is considered day-to-day due to a left knee sprain, according to Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca (Twitter links). Head coach Nick Nurse told reporters he doesn’t think the injury is “terribly bad,” but Lewenberg says it sounds like the reigning Rookie of the Year will miss a little time.
• Another injured Raptors forward, Pascal Siakam, will ramp up his work in practice this week and hopes to be cleared for contact this weekend, tweets Lewenberg. Barring setbacks, there’s optimism that Siakam will be back in action sometime next week.
• Wizards star Bradley Beal, who took a knee to his quad on Sunday, didn’t practice on Tuesday and is questionable for Wednesday’s game in Miami, head coach Wes Unseld Jr. said today (Twitter link via Josh Robbins of The Athletic).
• Jazz guard Mike Conley said on Monday night that “everything came out clean” on his left leg injury, per Mark Medina of NBA.com (Twitter link). Presumably, that means further testing didn’t reveal any significant damage beyond the initially reported knee strain, but Conley is still expected to miss some time. The veteran said on Monday that he has done some individual strength work, but no on-court activities yet.