On Thursday night, the LA Lakers will begin the final stretch of their regular season schedule. Fresh from the All-Star break, they are slated to face off against Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors. Also, they will be without one of their key players.
News emerged Wednesday afternoon that LeBron James will not be suiting up against the Warriors. The 20-time All-Star continues to deal with an ankle injury that kept him limited in Sunday's festivities as well.
Since the Lakers signed LeBron back in 2018, they faced the Warriors without him seven times. In this span, the result has been a toss up. LA currently has a 3-4 record against Golden State in games LeBron is out.
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One positive note is that recent history serves them well. LeBron missed two matchups against Curry and company last season, and LA managed to win both. Their worst run came in 2018, when the Warriors beat them three times without their superstar forward.
The last time these teams faced off was back on January 27th. LeBron was in the lineup, and had a dominant performance en eoute to a one-point victory. He finished that game with a stat line of 36 points, 20 rebounds and 12 assists.
Which Lakers players need to step up in LeBron James' absence?
With LeBron James on the sidelines, the LA Lakers need to fill the void left by the star forward. They will need to rely on multiple players to step up to help lead the charge against the Golden State Warriors.
If the Lakers want any chance at taking down the Warriors, they are going to need a big outing from Anthony Davis. As the team's other star, he'll be looked at to provide an impact on both ends of the floor. This season, Davis is averaging 24.9 PPG, 12.2 RPG and 2.5 BPG.
Another name to watch for LA is D'Angleo Russell. The team decided not to move him at the deadline following an impressive string of games. Now, he needs to show them that they didn't make a mistake. Delivering a big performance with LeBron out would be a big step in the right direction for him. Russell is currently posting averages of 17.5 PPG and 6.3 APG.
Aside from these two, Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura are two other players who could provide a scoring punch for the Lakers. With Golden State just one spot bleow them in the standings, LA can't afford to drop this matchup. Doing so would make their already uphill battle harder as they attempt to secure a playoff spot.
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