EL SEGUNDO — After sitting out of Sunday’s NBA All-Star Game because of lingering left foot/ankle soreness, Lakers star LeBron James is listed as questionable for Wednesday night’s home game against the Charlotte Hornets.
“Hopefully, he gets upgraded at some point [on Wednesday] and he’s able to play,” Coach JJ Redick said on Tuesday. “But he’ll be questionable.”
James, 40, was selected to his record-extending 21st All-Star Game but didn’t play in the exhibition for the first time since being named to his first All-Star team in 2005.
“I was hoping that it would feel a lot better [Sunday] morning, but it’s not where I want it to be,” James said Sunday. “With 30 games left and us trying to make a playoff push in the wild, wild West, I feel like it’s important for me to take care of myself and understand what’s coming on.
“I don’t want to say it’s maintenance – well, it is maintenance, but at the same time, I have to look out for myself when it comes to this injury that I’ve been dealing with for years. I hope to be available on Wednesday … hopefully I can play against Charlotte on Wednesday and hopefully play against Portland on Thursday. It’s a big stretch for us.”
Wednesday’s matchup, which is a makeup for a Jan. 9 game that was postponed because of the Southern California wildfires, is the first game of a home-road back-to-back. After hosting the Hornets (13-39), the Lakers (32-20) play the Trail Blazers (23-32) on Thursday in Portland before matching up against the Denver Nuggets (36-19) on Saturday at Ball Arena for their third game in four nights coming out of the All-Star break.
The Lakers have won 12 of their past 15 games but their March schedule is challenging – they face the New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Milwaukee Bucks (twice) and the Nuggets (twice) during a 14-day span – and a bad stretch of any length could send them tumbling down the standings in a tightly packed Western Conference.
Redick said James went through “most” of Tuesday’s practice, the Lakers’ first since the break ended.
James has consistently been on the injury report because of a left foot ailment since early December.
“It’s something that we’ve managed all year and it was sore over the weekend,” Redick added. “But like it’s been all year, it’s a day-to-day thing, that’s just something we’ve had to manage or continue to manage throughout the rest of the year.”
DONCIC’S WORKLOAD
After being on a minutes restriction in his first two games with the Lakers, recently acquired star Luka Doncic will be getting his restrictions eased coming out of the break.
Doncic was on a 30-minute restriction after being sidelined for 6½ weeks because of a strained left calf.
He played 24 and 23 minutes in the Lakers’ Feb. 10 and Feb. 12 matchups against the Utah Jazz, averaging 15 points, 4.5 rebounds and four assists.
“He’ll be fine,” Redick responded when asked about Doncic’s ramp-up period coming out of the break. “That extra, whatever it was five, six days of All-Star break was good for him. His minutes will be up [on Wednesday]. And I don’t think that there’s gonna be any sort of restrictions going forward.”