Getty Lakers' LeBron James (left) and Celtics' Jaylen Brown.
According to Lakers head coach Frank Vogel, LeBron James will be a game-time decision for Los Angeles’ Friday, November 15th contest against the Boston Celtics, via Jovan Buha of The Athletic:
LeBron James is a game-time decision tonight, per Frank Vogel.
James has missed 10 games this season, including each of the last eight with an abdominal strain. Over that span, the Lakers have mustered up a record of 4-6 — far inferior to the 4-2 record they own when The King is in their lineup.
“I hope,” James told ESPN on Wednesday when asked if he would play against the Celtics on Friday. At the time, sources close to ESPN believed there was a “50-50” chance of James suiting up on Friday.
In six games this season, the 37-year-old James is shooting 46.7% from the field and averaging 24.8 points per game. While the latter would still be good enough for 11th-best league-wide, each output marks his lowest since his 2003-04 rookie campaign. With that said, a trip to Beantown could easily help boost those numbers. James has averaged an outstanding 28.9 points per game over his 54 regular-season games in TD Garden — his highest in any road arena, sans Cleveland (h/t Dave McMenamin of ESPN).
Jaylen Brown Remains Out
James isn’t the lone standout wing entering Friday’s bout with an injury concern. However, he is the only one who still has a chance to play. The Celtics have once again ruled out Jaylen Brown with a right hamstring strain. The reigning All-Star will miss his seventh consecutive game after originally sustaining his injury in a November 4th victory over the Miami Heat.
The 25-year-old Cal product is currently averaging a career-best 25.6 points per game and had been riding a three-game streak of scoring at least 28 points before exiting the Heat game early. Without Brown in the lineup, Boston has split their games down the middle, going 3-3 over their last six games.
Dennis Schroder, who has started every game in Brown’s absence, has been added to the injury report with a left ankle sprain and is questionable. Friday night would mark Schroder’s first game against the Lakers should he be available. A season ago, the German guard served as a full-time starter in L.A.’s backcourt.
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Robert Williams, who missed Wednesday’s loss in Atlanta, is listed as questionable vs. the Lakers. The 24-year-old big man was diagnosed with left knee tendinopathy after failing to make it through the first half of Boston’s November 15th victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers. Deemed a “short-term thing” from head coach Ime Udoka (via the Boston Globe) Williams originally called his injury nothing more than just a “little bump in the road [that] I need to get past.”
Time Lord has seen his usage skyrocket in what is now his fourth NBA season. Playing nearly 12 minutes per game more than a season ago, the team’s starting center is averaging career bests in points (10.0) and rebounds (9.2).
“Obviously playing the most minutes I’ve played in my career, it’s something I gotta be on top of as far as treatment-wise and everything else,” Williams acknowledged per Celtics.com.
Tipoff at TD Garden is set for 7:30 p.m. ET.
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