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The Los Angeles Lakers have received a critical injury update ahead of their matchup with the Phoenix Suns on April 7 at Crypto.com Arena.
The purple and gold are listing point guard D’Angelo Russell as probable and big man Anthony Davis and small forward LeBron James as questionable.
James and Davis played in back-to-back games versus the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Clippers. The Lakers beat the Jazz in overtime and lost to the Clippers. Los Angeles is 41-39 on the season, good for seventh place in the Western Conference standings.
Russell is averaging 17.0 points and 6.3 assists with the Lakers since being acquired from the Minnesota Timberwolves at the February trade deadline. Meanwhile, James is averaging 29.0 points, 8.4 rebounds and 6.8 assists on the season, while Davis is putting up 26.3 points and 12.4 rebounds per game.
LeBron James: ‘Wherever We End Up, That’s Where We End Up’
The Lakers can grab the sixth seed in the Western Conference and avoid the play-in tournament by winning their final two games of the season against the Suns and Jazz, combined with the Golden State Warriors going 1-1. James, a four-time champion and four-time Finals MVP, told reporters after the Clippers game, “Wherever we end up, that’s where we end up.”
“Wherever we end up, that’s where we end up,” James said. “It’s been like four or five seasons in one for us. We don’t have the luxury of saying, ‘This is what we need to do. This is where we’re going to be.’ We need to still continue to play good basketball.”
The Lakers won the 2020 championship over the Miami Heat in six games at the Walt Disney World Bubble in Davis’ first season with the team. However, they lost to the Suns in the first round of the 2021 playoffs in six games and failed to reach the postseason in 2022.
Kevin Durant Talks About LeBron James
If the Suns don’t rest Kevin Durant against the Lakers and James plays, KD and LeBron will face each other for the first time since December 25, 2018, when Durant was still on the Warriors. Due to injuries, the two legends haven’t played against each other since the 2018-19 season.
“It’s been amazing,” Durant said about competing against James on April 4. “Just being in the league the same time as him. Just somebody whose a ultimate competitor. Somebody that you inspired by. … It’s always been a mutual respect amongst us two. It’s always been great battles when we play against each other.”
James and Durant are two of the best players in NBA history. They have combined to win five regular-season MVPs, six rings and six Finals MVPs. Durant has a 6-15 record versus James in his career during the regular season. However, Durant is 2-1 against James in the NBA Finals.
Both James and Durant will be in the Hall of Fame one day. James has career averages of 27.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.3 assists with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Heat and Lakers, while Durant has career numbers of 27.3 points, 7.1 rebounds and 4.3 assists with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Warriors, Brooklyn Nets and Suns.
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