James, Davis answer bell against Timberwolves
Lakers stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis played in Sunday night's home game against the Minnesota Timberwolves despite their injuries.
Both James (left ankle peroneal tendinopathy) and Davis (left shoulder soreness) were upgraded to available about half an hour before tipoff after coach Darvin Ham said they were gametime decisions.
James sat out of Friday's 123122 win over the Milwaukee Bucks at Crypto.com Arena, the seventh game he's missed because of the left ankle, with the Lakers improving their record without James in the lineup to 5-4.
Davis injured the shoulder when Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo accidentally elbowed Davis on a drive to the basket. He was seen wearing a wrap after the win over the Bucks, saying that his shoulder was sore and that he “couldn't really move it” after the incident.
Coach Darvin Ham said ahead of the matchup against the Timberwolves that Davis' shoulder injury is “more of a muscle thing. Not anything structural.”
Davis had his shoulder wrapped when he was on the bench during the first half.
Cam Reddish missed Sunday's game because of a sprained right ankle – the same injury that sidelined him from Jan. 25-Feb. 25. He also didn't play in Wednesday's home loss to the Sacramento Kings.
Second-year wing Cam Reddish was in the rotation in light of Reddish's absence.
The Timberwolves were without two of their best three players in All-Star big man Karl-Anthony Towns (left knee meniscus tear) and Defensive Player of the Year favorite Rudy Gobert.
Kyle Anderson was also out because of right shoulder pain.
Week that was
The Lakers are coming off an up-and-down 2-2 week, which saw them pick up big wins over the Bucks and Oklahoma City Thunder (Monday), but also saw them drop significant conference matchups against the Kings and Denver Nuggets (March 2).
“It's tough,” Ham said. “It goes back to the wisdom and the lessons, you know? You're playing against some hellified teams. They're all fighting for positioning and things are gonna happen. So you just try to navigate them as best you can.
“The biggest thing is just the energy and effort you pour into each game, each day. If it's a non-game day, still need to come with the right spirit, the right energy. Focus on the film. Whatever we need to go on the court and walkthrough and do, be locked in so we receive the information properly. But it's just going against some formidable ball clubs. And again, everyone is fighting for positioning. So we just gotta bring the fight to the fight.”
The Lakers entered Sunday 5-4 since the All-Star break, leading to them jockeying with the Golden State Warriors for the Nos. 9 and 10 spots in the Western Conference standings the last few weeks.
“When we play with the right energy, we're a pretty tough team to be,” Ham said. “If everybody is on the same page on both sides of the ball, it puts you in the best possible position to not have slippage and to come out on top of these games.”