the Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James has been officially ruled out for Tuesday’s game in Milwaukee. James is suffering from peroneal tendinopathy in his left ankle and will not play tonight, via Athletic’s Jovan Buha.
Even though James was available to play in the Lakers’ 150-145 win over the Indiana Pacers on Sunday, when he had 26 points, 10 assists and five rebounds, the Lakers will have to struggle for victory without him. It won’t be an easy task as the Lakers take on the Bucks, one of the best teams in the NBA. The Bucks currently hold a 46-25 record and are the No. 2 seed team in the Eastern Conference.
It’s unclear if James will be ready for one of the Lakers’ next two games this week, against the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday or against the Indiana Pacers on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Lakers are in a trickier situation as they sit at the ninth seed in the Western Conference. They are currently scheduled to participate in the play-in tournament, but ideally they don’t want to risk falling further in the standings.
The good news for Los Angeles as they face a great Bucks team without their best player is that several other players went missing in their last game. The Lakers had four total players score at least 25 points against a good Pacers team on Sunday. Anthony Davis led the charge with 36 points, 16 rebounds and three assists. Austin Reaves added 25 points, eight assists and five rebounds, and Spencer Dinwiddie shined with 26 points, five assists and two rebounds.
The other positive for the Lakers is that even though they will be without James, they should get D’Angelo Russell back. Russell missed Sunday’s game due to illness, but is not listed on the injury report ahead of Tuesday’s game. Additionally, the Lakers beat the Bucks 123-122 in their last game, while also without James. They should be a huge sign of encouragement for the Lakers, who have already proven recently that they can defeat the Bucks without James.
