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Anthony Davis, LeBron James Return On Friday

April 1st, 2022 at 9:04pm CST by Rory Maher

APRIL 1: Coach Frank Vogel said Davis will play on Friday, per Andrew Lopez of ESPN (Twitter link). James will play as well, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports tweets. The Lakers face the Pelicans at 9:30pm CT.

MARCH 31: Lakers star Anthony Davis intends to return Friday against the Pelicans as long as there are no setbacks, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium (Twitter link).

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski also reports (via Twitter) that LeBron James is going to test his sprained left ankle in an effort to return to action with Davis. Wojnarowski listed Davis as a game-time decision, but he apparently plans to play. Both players are out Thursday versus Utah, Wojnarowski tweets.

Davis last played on February 16, when he suffered a right mid-foot sprain. A report earlier this week indicated he was hoping to return this weekend. Through 37 games this season (35.1 MPG), Davis is averaging 23.1 PPG, 9.7 RPG, 2.9 APG, 1.2 SPG and 2.3 BPG on .537/.182/.709 shooting.

It has been a strange season for Davis in a number of ways, as he hasn’t made his usual impact defensively, and his marks from three-point range (since he started attempting them semi-regularly in 2015/16) and the free throw line are both career-lows. However, he’s shooting a career-best .578 on two-pointers.

After appearing in 36 of 72 contests last season, he’s had another injury-played season in 2021/22, appearing in 37 of 75 games.

James, meanwhile, injured his ankle Sunday in the team’s loss at New Orleans, saying it felt “horrible” at the time. He was subsequently granted permission to leave the team’s road trip and return to Los Angeles for treatment and evaluation of the injury.

At 37 years old, James is averaging 30.1 PPG, 8.2 RPG, 6.3 APG, 1.3 SPG and 1.1 BPG on .523/.359/.756 shooting through 55 games (37.2 MPG). He currently leads the league in scoring, but needs to play at least three more games to qualify for the scoring title.

Friday’s matchup with the Pelicans will be crucial for the Lakers as they attempt to make the play-in tournament. The Pelicans (33-43) are the current No. 9 seed in the West, while the Lakers (31-44) trail by one-and-a-half games. Both teams are trying to fend off the Spurs (31-45) to secure a chance to make the playoffs.

If the Lakers and Spurs finish the season with an identical record, the Spurs would hold the tiebreaker and advance to the play-in tournament due to a better conference record (21-25 for the Spurs, compared to 16-29 for the Lakers).

Lakers Notes: LeBron, Davis, Westbrook, Malone

March 30th, 2022 at 7:30pm CST by Arthur Hill

The Lakers are in danger of missing the play-in tournament and their stars may not return in time to save them, writes Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times. Tuesday’s loss at Dallas knocked L.A. into a 10th-place tie with San Antonio with seven games remaining, and the Spurs hold the tiebreaker because of a better conference record.

LeBron James missed the game against the Mavericks because of a sprained left ankle that he suffered Sunday. He has already been ruled out for Thursday’s contest at Utah and has been granted permission to return to Los Angeles for treatment and evaluation of the injury, Turner tweets.

Anthony Davis is listed as doubtful against the Jazz, but hopes to be ready for Friday’s game with the ninth-place Pelicans, sources told Turner. Davis, who hasn’t played since spraining his right foot and MCL on February 16, was “a little sore” after practicing Monday and the Lakers haven’t decided if it’s safe for him to play Friday.

There’s more Lakers news to pass along:

Coach Frank Vogel was disappointed with how his team responded to the challenge against the Mavericks, Turner states in the same piece. With a chance to solidify their play-in position, the Lakers fell way behind early in the game. “We executed very poorly to start the game and really that whole first half, with what our game plan was,” Vogel said. “And then as we tried to adjust to look at some Plan Bs and Plan Cs, we just didn’t execute well enough and play with enough toughness, IQ, intelligence, focus and fight in that half. So, not acceptable and just a poor performance across the board. Coaches, players, everybody.”
Russell Westbrook had a testy exchange with reporters after Tuesday’s loss, Turner adds. Westbrook became irritated when he was asked what the team has to do for the rest of the season and challenged media members to come up with a solution. “I’m only one person. It’s a team game,” he said. “So, I don’t have an answer. You may have it.”
Vogel is likely to be replaced after the season ends, and a source told Harrison Wind of DNVR that Nuggets coach Michael Malone could have been a prime target if he hadn’t signed an extension with Denver (Twitter link).
Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report reviews the mistakes the Lakers have made that caused them go from a championship team to a floundering also-ran in two seasons. The Westbrook trade was an obvious error, but Pincus also points to a lack of roster continuity after the 2020 title and a troubling pattern of letting young talent leave without sufficient compensation.

Lakers Health Updates: Davis, Nunn, LeBron, Gabriel

March 29th, 2022 at 8:44pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Lakers star big man Anthony Davis is aiming to return to action this weekend, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports.

Davis has been shelved since spraining his right foot and MCL on February 16. He has missed 37 games for Los Angeles all told this season, including the past 17. The 6’10” big man has produced at a typically high clip this year when healthy, but his shooting numbers and defense have dipped. He is averaging 23.1 PPG, 9.7 RPG, 2.9 APG, 2.3 BPG and 1.2 SPG through his 37 healthy contests.

Sporting a 31-44 record, the Lakers currently occupy the Western Conference’s 11th seed. The team owns a record identical to that of the tenth-seeded Spurs, but the Spurs sport a better intra-conference record. Even with Davis back in the fold this weekend, an extended absence for LeBron James could doom the depth-challenged team’s play-in tournament odds.

The rest of L.A.’s schedule will not get much easier down the home stretch of the 2021/22 season. Across five of their final seven games, the Lakers will face off against four Western Conference playoff-bound teams in the Jazz, Nuggets (twice), Suns, and Warriors.

Here are a few more Lakers-related health updates:

Haynes’ sources have informed him that combo guard Kendrick Nunn, one of just five Lakers players earning more than the minimum this year, is expected to miss the rest of the 2021/22 season. Nunn has not played a single game for Los Angeles since incurring a bone bruise in his knee during the 2021 preseason. He signed a two-year, $10MM contract with L.A. during the 2021 offseason with a player option for 2022/23. Given his health predicament, it seems likely he will pick up that option.
According to Haynes, All-Star forward LeBron James is expected to miss his second consecutive game on Thursday after rolling his ankle during a 116-108 loss to the Pelicans on Sunday. Thursday would mark the four-time MVP’s 20th missed contest this year.
Reserve power forward Wenyen Gabriel, who has emerged as an important role player for Los Angeles, has been listed as day-to-day going forward after suffering a left ankle sprain, tweets Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times.

Los Angeles Notes: James, Davis, Coffey, Ojeleye, Powell

March 28th, 2022 at 10:08pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Lakers star forwards LeBron James and Anthony Davis are listed as doubtful to play Tuesday at Dallas, Dave McMenamin of ESPN tweets. James injured his left ankle against New Orleans on Sunday and under treatment on Monday. In Davis’ case, it’s an upgrade. Davis went through a full, live practice for the first time since he suffered a mid-foot sprain on February 16.

We have more on the Los Angeles teams:

Amir Coffey has been a steady contributor since Clippers forward Paul George was sidelined and his status won’t change when the perennial All-Star forward potentially returns on Tuesday, Mirjam Swanson of the Orange County Register tweets. Coffey is averaging 8.9 PPG, 2.8 RPG and 1.8 APG in 23.6 MPG in his third NBA season. “He’s earned it, last three years, the work he’s put in … this season he’s kind of kept us afloat,” Lue said.
Coffey had his two-way contract converted to a standard one this weekend and Semi Ojeleye was waived to make room for him on the 15-man roster. It was due to the franchise’s desire to reward Coffey rather than anything regarding Ojeleye’s play. Lue said Ojeleye “did everything right” and was sad to see him depart, Greif tweets.
Norman Powell still has a number of steps to go before returning from his left foot injury. The Clippers forward has done some shooting but hasn’t progressed beyond that in his recovery, Greif added in another tweet.

LeBron James: Ankle Injury Feels “Horrible”

March 28th, 2022 at 9:10am CST by Luke Adams

Lakers star LeBron James scored 39 points in New Orleans on Sunday, but it wasn’t enough to lead his team to a win over the Pelicans, who came back from a 20-point halftime deficit to beat L.A. by a score of 116-108. To make matters worse for the Lakers, James turned his left ankle in the second quarter and said the injury felt “horrible” after the game, as ESPN’s Dave McMenamin writes.

“I mean, I have no idea how I finished the game, to be honest, after watching that replay,” said James, who played 42 minutes. “It’s pretty nasty.”

The loss dropped the Lakers to 10th in the West, and they now lead the No. 11 Spurs by just one gameand face a difficult schedule in the last two weeks of the regular season. James, who has already been battling a knee injury this season, is hopeful that his latest ailment doesn’t force him out of action at all, with L.A. battling to secure a play-in spot.

“I hope not, because I hate missing games,” he said on Sunday night, per Kyle Goon of The Southern California News Group. “That’s not in my nature, so I’ve already started the process of treatment right after the game, I got on it right away and obviously I’ll get more done on the flight and we’ll land in Dallas tonight, around the clock tomorrow and see how I feel on Tuesday.

“… I still feel like if I’m on the floor and I can make things happen then we still got a pretty good chance to make something out of this season.”

Here’s more on the Lakers and LeBron:

James’ ankle injury felt like “the moment that might signal the end of the Lakers season,” according to Bill Oram of The Athletic.
James referred to Sunday’s game, in which the Lakers turned a 20-point halftime lead into an eight-point loss, as a “microcosm” of the club’s season, per Andrew Lopez of ESPN. “We haven’t been able to sustain all year, and tonight was one of those instances once again,” James said. “It feels like s–t. I mean, excuse my language, but that’s what it feels like. I came in with the mindset understanding it was a playoff-type atmosphere, playoff implications and things of that nature. … It feels like a wasted opportunity, obviously, for myself and for our team. We weren’t able to get it done.”
Head coach Frank Vogel acknowledged how precarious the Lakers’ position is, telling reporters on Sunday night that “time’s running out” on the team, writes Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times. “We got to get some wins. We got to put some wins together and turn the attention to Dallas,” Vogel said, referring to L.A.’s Tuesday opponent. “Whatever it takes to beat Dallas, we got to do.”
The Lakers will play in Dallas on Tuesday and Utah on Thursday before hosting the Pelicans on Friday and the Nuggets on Sunday. It won’t get any easier from there, as they travel to Phoenix and Golden State next week.

Lakers Notes: Anthony, Davis, Nunn, LeBron

March 26th, 2022 at 5:10pm CST by Arthur Hill

Whenever Carmelo Anthony decides to retire, he’s determined that no one else is going to break the news, writes Kyle Goon of The Orange County Register. Anthony discussed the topic after Friday’s practice, but gave no indication that he’s thinking about ending his career. At age 37, he remains a valuable weapon off the Lakers‘ bench, averaging 13.6 points per game and shooting 38.7% from three-point range.

“I’m going to tell you that right now: You ain’t going to hear no whispers,” Anthony said when asked about retirement. “You’re going to hear it straight from me.”

Anthony, who along with teammate LeBron James are the only active players from the 2003 draft, wants to keep his career going as long as possible after finding himself out of the league nearly three years ago when it seemed nobody wanted him. He has remained durable despite his age, appearing in 64 games so far this season and missing only 15 combined over the past three years. Anthony credits that to his mental approach to each season.

“If coming into it you’re thinking, ‘Oh I want to play 70 games or 72 games,’ you’re not going to be really locked into that,” he said. “You’ll be worried about something going wrong or this happening.”

There’s more on the Lakers:

Anthony Davis didn’t take part in contact during Friday’s practice, but his workload has been increasing and the team remains hopeful that he’ll be available before the end of the regular season, Goon states in the same piece. Davis hasn’t played since spraining his right foot in a February 16 game.
There’s less optimism surrounding Kendrick Nunn, an offseason free agent addition who hasn’t played all season, Goon adds. Nunn still isn’t able to practice, and coach Frank Vogel acknowledged that it’s “a good question” why he hasn’t been ruled out for the season. “I haven’t circled back with a recent update on that other than to know that’s he’s trying to (come back),” Vogel said. “I’m not sure when the next MRI is. But the intent is for him to continue to ramp up activity to where his imaging is coming back clean. I think there’s been some improvements, but not enough to see him back in practice.”
Vogel is touting James for MVP honors, but admits the Lakers’ poor record will affect his chances, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. James is the league’s top scorer at 30.0 PPG, but L.A. is fighting to hold onto a spot in the play-in tournament. “He is as deserving for MVP consideration as anybody in the league,” Vogel said. “I know how the voting goes — the team with the best record or top couple of records usually gets most of those considerations, so the win-loss record definitely would probably hurt him. But you can’t tell me that anybody has played a better season than LeBron James has this year.”

And-Ones: Molinar, All-Defense, Most Influential Players, Collison

March 25th, 2022 at 1:01pm CST by Luke Adams

Mississippi State guard Iverson Molinar announced on Twitter today that he is declaring for the 2022 NBA draft while maintaining his NCAA eligibility.

Molinar, who recently completed his junior season with the Bulldogs, led the team in both points (17.5) and assists (3.6) per game in 2021/22. He also chipped in 3.1 RPG and 1.2 SPG in 34 appearances (34.1 MPG).

Although he showed the ability to hit outside shots during his first two college seasons (.419 3PT%), Molinar’s three-point percentage dropped to just 25.2% this season. Still, ESPN ranks him at the No. 64 player on its big board for 2022, so he has a chance to be a second-rounder if he keeps his name in the draft.

Here are a few more odds and ends from across the basketball world:

Using a series of new advanced metrics, Kirk Goldsberry of ESPN.com (Insider link) identifies the top candidates for the NBA’s All-Defensive teams for 2021/22. Goldsberry’s list includes a pair of Celtics (Marcus Smart and Robert Williams), two recent Defensive Players of the Year (Rudy Gobert and Giannis Antetokounmpo), and a rookie (Herb Jones), among others.
Michael Scotto of HoopsHype polled 52 current and former NBA players, asking them to name the five most influential players in league history. Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Allen Iverson, Kobe Bryant, and Magic Johnson were the leading vote-getters, according to Scotto, who also shared the rest of the top 10 and outlined which other players received votes.
As expected, the South Bay Lakers have officially added veteran guard Darren Collison to their roster (Twitter link). A report earlier this week indicated that Collison was joining Los Angeles’ G League affiliate.

Anthony Davis Could Return Before Postseason

March 24th, 2022 at 6:35pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Anthony Davis could return to action as early as the first week of April, ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reports.

The Lakers star big man has been rehabbing for over a month after suffering a right foot strain on February 16. His projected timetable at that time was four-to-six weeks.

Coach Frank Vogel said Davis is “coming along really well,” sideline reporter Mike Trudell tweets.

The Lakers entered Thursday in ninth place in the Western Conference, a half-game ahead of the Pelicans. The 11th-place Spurs are only two games behind the Lakers in the loss column.

In terms of the play-in round, Vogel said “We’re hopeful those two games will be played with Anthony Davis,” Ryan Ward of Lakers Nation tweets. Of course, assuming L.A. finishes ninth or 10th in the West, the team would only play two games if it win its first one.

The Lakers, who played without LeBron James in their loss to Philadelphia on Wednesday, don’t play again until Sunday. Overall, they have nine regular-season games remaining, including five from April 3-10.

Injury Notes: N. Powell, LeBron, Suggs, Raptors

March 23rd, 2022 at 3:18pm CST by Luke Adams

Appearing on TNT during Tuesday’s broadcast of the Clippers/Nuggets game, Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports provided a positive update on Norman Powell‘s recovery from a fractured left foot (video link via Tomer Azarly of ClutchPoints).

“Norm Powell, sources tell me, is itching to get back out there and is expected to return at some point before the end of the regular season,” Haynes said.

Responding to the report, Powell seemed to take exception to Haynes’ assessment of his situation, tweeting, “What sources? Is saying how I feel? It’s either from me or fake news. Chill with the sources talk. Smh.”

It’s unclear what part of Haynes’ report Powell was objecting to — presumably, the veteran swingman is doing all he can to make it back on the court before the Clippers participate in the Western Conference play-in tournament next month.

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

Lakers star LeBron James has been ruled out of Wednesday’s game vs. Philadelphia due to left knee soreness, tweets Jovan Buha of The Athletic. Since Los Angeles doesn’t play again until Sunday, holding James out tonight will give him nearly a full week to rest his knee, which has bothered him for much of the season.
Magic guard Jalen Suggs has missed four straight games due to a right ankle bone bruise, but the team isn’t shutting him down for the rest of the season, head coach Jamahl Mosley said on Tuesday, per Khobi Price of The Orlando Sentinel. “Him and I actually just had a very good conversation a moment ago about his competitive nature and what he wants to do,” Mosley said. “For that young man, playing is the thing he loves to do the most. Being around his teammates is what he loves to do the most in these situations. We’ll focus on his health, which is obviously the biggest thing. If he’s healthy, we’ll have him on the court ready to play.”
Raptors guard Fred VanVleet told reporters that sitting out a game in back-to-back sets is “not doing much” to alleviate his nagging knee pain, but said he understands why the team is going that route (Twitter link via Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca). “I probably would’ve been even less effective than I was (Monday vs. the Bulls) if I would’ve played (Sunday vs. the Sixers),” VanVleet said after Monday’s loss in which he shot just 7-of-22 from the field. “It’s a difficult situation. I gotta figure it out.”
Eric Koreen of The Athletic (all Twitter links) passed along several more Raptors injury updates, noting that OG Anunoby (finger) practiced on Wednesday, while Gary Trent Jr. (toe) didn’t. Both players are officially listed as questionable for Thursday’s game vs. Cleveland but seem closer to doubtful, says Koreen.

And-Ones: Scoring Race, Lottery Teams, EuroLeague, Cole

March 23rd, 2022 at 11:25am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA’s 2021/22 scoring race could end up being one for the ages, writes Tim Reynolds of The Associated Press. As Reynolds outlines, the league is currently on pace for its closest three-way scoring race of all-time.

Currently, Lakers forward LeBron James leads the pack with 30.0 points per game, followed by Sixers center Joel Embiid at 29.8 PPG and Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo at 29.7 PPG.

Five more players are averaging at least 27.0 PPG, but are unlikely to crash the top three even with strong finishes. Nets forward Kevin Durant (29.6 PPG) would have made it a fascinating four-way race if were able to meet the required minimum of 58 games played, but he’ll fall just short of that threshold.

Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

Dan Devine of The Ringer takes a look at the 10 teams who appear likely to miss the playoffs and the play-in and identifies one silver lining for each club. Devine’s list includes Anfernee Simons‘ breakout for the Trail Blazers, Markelle Fultz‘s return for the Magic, and Kyle Kuzma‘s development for the Wizards.
After initially suspending the Russian teams in the EuroLeague and EuroCup, the Euroleague has opted to expel those clubs for the rest of 2021/22, writes Aris Barkas of Eurohoops.net. The decision, made in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, will affect CSKA Moscow, Zenit St. Petersburg, and UNICS Kazan in the EuroLeague and Lokomotiv Kuban in the EuroCup.
In other international basketball news, former NBA point guard Norris Cole has signed with JL Bourg in France, while journeyman wing Sean Kilpatrick has joined Spanish team Zaragoza, according to press releases from the respective clubs. Cole has played in 360 regular season NBA games, while Kilpatrick has appeared in 157, but both have been out of the league for a few years.