James, Lakers begin challenging second half tonight

By the end of an exhausting first half of the season, even LeBron James finally agreed to take a night off.

The second half of the slate is only tougher, with 35 games stuffed into 65 days, including eight backto-backs. But with the AllStar break behind him, the All-Star captain scoffed again when asked if that schedule — which is also graded as one of the toughest remaining for any NBA team — will force him to consider taking additional rest.

“No, not for me,” he said, setting his shoulders. “It’s go time.”

If the first half was about easing in, the restart point feels more like a launch. As coach Frank Vogel pointed out, in a normal NBA season,

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the Lakers would have a vast chunk of their season already done by the All-Star break. Last year, they had just 29 games remaining on the schedule after the AllStar Game.

This year found the Lakers (24-13) taking a longer break than most teams, but Vogel was tense over having just one practice ahead of tonight’s home game against Indiana. The Lakers had to be back in Los Angeles by Wednesday, which was a testing-only day. Already without substantial pieces of the team including All-Star big man Anthony Davis (right calf strain) and veteran center Marc Gasol (health and safety protocols) for tonight, Vogel anticipated another slow build back to ideal conditioning.

“We’ll be mindful of trying to build our, much like the short offseason, trying to build our guys’ legs back up,” Vogel said. “Playing games to win without overdoing with our bodies and putting them at risk to injury. So it’s a very challenging balance.”

The balance will be most scrutinized with the Lakers’ biggest stars. The team is jockeying for position in the Western Conference standings, sitting at third during the break, so the Lakers can’t simply coast all the way until May 16. But then again, what’s the best way to preserve Davis, who has been saddled with a leg injury for much of the season, and James, who is 36 years old?

James has consistently batted back questions about his age, his workload, and how one might affect the other. He did it again Thursday as he readied himself for practice, summoning his “Playoff LeBron” persona that he has often cited after the All-Star break in previous years. If he was in first, second or third gear in the first half of the season, James said, his goal is to be in fourth, fifth or sixth leading into the playoffs.

The question for him is less about aches and pains — which are common — but one of toughness.

“(Expletive), I haven’t been healthy since the first year I entered the league,” he said. “You get bumps and bruises and nicks and nacks throughout . ... More importantly, it’s not about my body, it’s my mind. As long as my mind is fresh I can get over bumps and bruises that my body may endure.”

The team’s fortunes might be more deeply tied to Davis’ ability to overcome injury. The Lakers have been cautious with his injury, which was aggravated again on Valentine’s Day in Denver, and he won’t start out the second half of the season playing. Vogel said Davis is scheduled to be reevaluated by team doctors today. He has been able to lift weights but has not yet been approved to rejoin practice.

The Lakers are 7-7 when Davis (who incidentally turned 28 on Thursday) hasn’t played.

With Gasol also out for an undefined period, the Lakers signed Damian Jones to a second 10-day contract. After scoring 12 points and adding four blocked shots in his first three games as a Laker, Vogel said Jones only needs to do more of the same.

“To be a screener and a rebounder and a lob threat offensively, and defensively, to be able to man the middle, to be a shot-blocker, to play in our pick-and-roll coverages, and obviously to rebound the ball and match up with other teams’ bigger centers is what we asked of him last week,” Vogel said. “I thought he did well with it, and we’ll continue to look at that over these next 10 days.”

In previous title chases, James has been vocal about his opinion about his roster. In a quest to repeat with Cleveland in 2017, James lit up the heat on the front office by complaining the Cavaliers were top-heavy at the time. For this season, the rumor mill is awash with reports that the team is interested in adding potential buyout candidates from Cleveland’s Andre Drummond to San Antonio’s LaMarcus Aldridge to upgrade at center.