Lakers say LeBron James has tendon injury, out 3 weeks
LeBron James is expected to miss most of March with an injured tendon in his right foot, the Los Angeles Lakers said on Thursday.
If that timetable holds, the Lakers will have to find a way to stay in the playoff race without the league’s all-time scoring leader.
The Lakers did not disclose the full extent of the injury, saying it was a tendon issue and that he will be “reevaluated in approximately three weeks.” If James misses three more weeks, starting with Thursday, that would keep him out for at least 10 of the Lakers’ final 19 games.
James was hurt in the Lakers’ win at Dallas on Sunday. He has already missed two games with the injury, with the Lakers splitting those contests.
“In the short term, we’ll all have to pull in the same direction,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said after his team — without James and Anthony Davis — beat Oklahoma City 123-117 on Wednesday.
At 30-33, the Lakers are 11th in the Western Conference standings, one game from the No. 10 spot — and the last spot in the play-in round. They’re also just 2½ games back of sixth place, and the final guaranteed playoff spot.
That’s good news, and so is what’s left for the Lakers on the schedule. Only seven of their final 19 games are against teams that currently have records over .500 — with several games against other teams jostling for position in the West postseason chase. The Lakers start a fivegame homestand Friday against Minnesota.
James leads the Lakers in scoring at 29.5 points per game. He said at the All-Star break last month that the team’s closing stretch this season would be some of the most important games he has played — noting he didn’t want to miss the postseason for a second consecutive year.
The Lakers are 6-10 without him in the lineup this season, and 24-23 in games he has appeared.
If the timetable does not significantly change, this would be only the third time in James’ 20-year career that he misses at least 10 consecutive games. He missed a 20-game stretch late in the 2020-21 season with an ankle sprain, and a 17-game stretch in the 2018-19 season with a groin injury. Those stints both came since he joined the Lakers; he never had that long of an extended absence during his times with Cleveland or Miami.
James has logged nearly 65,000 minutes in regular-season and playoff games since entering the league — almost 20,000 more than any other player in that span.
Quick goes to Vegas; Bruins get Bertuzzi before NHL deadline
Jonathan Quick is
on the move again, back to the Pacific Division to solve the Vegas Golden Knights’ latest goaltending quandary.
Vegas acquired Quick from Columbus on Thursday, less than 36 hours after the Los Angeles Kings traded the two-time Stanley Cup-winning goaltender and 2014 playoff MVP to the Blue Jackets.
After losing All-Star starter Logan Thompson to an injury, the Golden Knights sent a 2025 seventh-round pick and journeyman netminder Michael Hutchinson to complete the deal with Columbus, which retained half of Quick’s salary. General manager Kelly McCrimmon doesn’t expect injuries to Thompson or Laurent Brossoit to be long term but inquired and make this trade to have a safety net in the 37-year-old Quick.
“(Quick has) He’s had a tougher year and needs a change,” McCrimmon said at a news conference in Las Vegas. “We’re all about what lies ahead . ... I think he’s going to come in and give us really good goaltending.”
Another playoff-bound team in the Western Conference upgraded at forward, with Edmonton getting Nick Bjugstad from Arizona. The Coyotes got a 2023 third-round pick and prospect Michael Kesselring for Bjugstad and minor-leaguer Cam Dineen.
“Definitely a team I was hoping I was getting the call about,” Bjugstad said. “Can’t wait to join the boys and try to help this team win a Stanley Cup.”
Bjugstad going off the market and Quick getting dealt again leaves Philadelphia winger James van Riemsdyk and Anaheim defenseman John Klingberg as the top players left to be traded before the 3 p.m. EST Friday deadline.
Chicago’s Max Domi was dealt to Dallas on the forward’s 28th birthday. The move was announced after the Stars’ 5-2 victory — and after Domi was scratched for what the Blackhawks said was “roster management.”
Davis falls short in bid to break Maravich’s scoring mark
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Antoine Davis outscored them all – except for “Pistol” Pete.
Detroit Mercy’s star guard finished four points shy of surpassing Pete Maravich as the NCAA career scoring leader on Thursday night, scoring 22 in a gritty 71-66 loss to Youngstown State in the Horizon League tournament.
Davis came in needing 26 points to break Maravich’s hallowed mark of 3,667 points that stood for over 50 years. But after picking up his fourth foul with 3:36 left, the slender 6-foot1 guard, who was trapped and double-teamed for much of his 38 minutes by the top-seeded Penguins, couldn’t drive as effectively to the basket.
With Maravich’s record still within reach, Davis missed four 3-pointers — one of them a wide-open look — in the final two minutes of an intense game.
While disappointed with the loss and falling short of Maravich, Davis felt pride afterward.
“It’s really special,” he said, leaning against a wall outside Detroit Mercy’s locker room. “Maybe in 20 or 25 years somebody is going to be doing the same thing that I did, chase that record, maybe even sooner than that.
“It’s just a special feeling. I don’t take any of this for granted at all. I’m thankful for this. Blessed. I still feel like I’m the best scorer of my generation. Nobody can take that from me.”
Jalen Carter, top NFL prospect, posts bond in fatal crash
Georgia defensive tackle Jalen Carter returned to the NFL scouting combine on Thursday after turning himself in to Athens police Wednesday night and posting a combined bond of $4,000 on charges of reckless driving and racing in relation to a fatal crash that killed a teammate and team staffer.
Carter, originally projected as one of the top players in next month’s NFL draft, could lose millions of dollars if he drops from the top of the first round because of his alleged connection to the Jan. 15 crash that killed teammate Devin Willock and a recruiting staffer, 24-year-old Chandler LeCroy.
Police allege in an arrest warrant that Carter was racing his 2021 Jeep Trackhawk against the 2021 Ford Expedition driven by LeCroy at the time of the crash. Willock was a passenger in the SUV LeCroy was driving.
Carter turned himself in at 11:33 p.m. and was released at 11:49 p.m., according to Athens-Clarke County jail records. He posted bond of $2,500 on the racing charge and $1,500 on the reckless driving charge.
Bruins lock up Pastrnak with 8-year, $90M deal through 2031
BOSTON — The Bruins were already on pace for the best record in NHL history when they added toughness and depth for what they hope will be a long playoff run this spring.
Now general manager Don Sweeney has helped secure the team’s future, too.
Boston signed All-Star forward David Pastrnak to an eight-year contract extension on Thursday that will pay $90 million — the sixth-richest deal in NHL history. The deal locks up one of the league’s MVP candidates through the 2030-31 season for $11.25 million per year.
“Our goal was all along to make him a lifelong Bruin,” Sweeney said. “We’re very happy to have David be a part of our team now and for the foreseeable future.”
Pastrnak, 26, is second to Edmonton’s Connor McDavid this season with 42 goals, adding 38 assists while leading Boston to the best record in the NHL. Entering Thursday night’s game against Buffalo, the Bruins (478-5) had 99 points in 60 games — a 135-point pace that would surpass the 132 of the 1977 Montreal Canadiens.
3-time USA Hockey Olympian Brianna Decker retires
Three-time Olympian Brianna Decker announced her retirement from the United States national hockey team on Thursday, ending a career in which she ranks third among American women players in world championship tournament points.
The forward from Wisconsin was a core member of USA Hockey’s next generation of female players, who built on the success of their trail-blazing predecessors. She was a member of the gold medal-winning team at the 2018 Winter Games in South Korea — the U.S.‘s second to win a title after the 1998 Nagano Games, when women’s hockey made its Olympic debut.