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 league바카라s 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 바카라reevaluated in approximately three weeks.바카라 If James misses three more weeks, starting with Thursday, that would keep him out for at least 10 of the Lakers바카라 final 19 games.
James was hurt in the Lakers바카라 win at Dallas on Sunday. He has already missed two games with the injury, with the Lakers splitting those contests.
바카라In the short term, we바카라ll all have to pull in the same direction,바카라 Lakers coach Darvin Ham said after his team 바카라 without James and Anthony Davis 바카라 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 바카라 and the last spot in the play-in round. They바카라re also just 2 1/2 games back of sixth place, and the final guaranteed playoff spot.
That바카라s good news, and so is what바카라s left for the Lakers on the schedule. Only seven of their final 19 games are against teams that currently have records over .500 바카라 with several games against other teams jostling for position in the West postseason chase. The Lakers start a five-game 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 team바카라s closing stretch this season would be some of the most important games he has played 바카라 noting he didn바카라t 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 James바카라 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 바카라 almost 20,000 more than any other player in that span.
