LeBron James upgraded to questionable for Lakers vs. Celtics
BOSTON — The Lakers have upgraded LeBron James’ injury status to “questionable” ahead of Friday’s game against the Boston Celtics.
James has missed the last eight games with an abdominal strain, but all indications are that James will play with the Lakers at TD Garden on Friday.
James was seen working out before the Lakers played at Milwaukee on Wednesday night and the Lakers have scheduled a full team shoot-around Friday morning, which would give the All-Star forward time to work with his teammates.
Russell Westbrook laughed as he suggested Staples Center will soon be called ‘Crip Arena,’ adding to the long list of nicknames for Crypto.com Arena.
After the Lakers lost to the Bucks, coach Frank Vogel said James was “day to day,” but he was “always optimistic” James would return sooner rather than later.
James said, “I don’t know,” and, “We’ll see,” when asked after the Bucks game if he would play against the Celtics.
The Lakers have gone 3-5 since James went down Nov. 2 in a game against the Houston Rockets at Staples Center.
At the time, James was expected to be out at least a week.
Before James, who will turn 37 next month, was injured, he was first in team scoring average (24.8 points per game) and second in rebounding (7.0).
The Lakers’ recent loss to the Milwaukee Bucks without LeBron James was an inconsistent effort and not a joking matter, writes columnist Dylan Hernández.
If James plays, it’ll be interesting to see who Vogel starts.
Talen Horton-Tucker has started the last three games since returning from thumb surgery, and has averaged 23.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. He’s shooting 49% from the field and 40% from three-point range.
Based on how Horton-Tucker has played, Vogel said his third-year wing player had made a case to start alongside James and Anthony Davis.
Davis is been listed as probable for the game with a bruised right thigh.
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