Lakers: LeBron James, Anthony Davis to miss game vs. Nets

On Sunday, the Los Angeles Lakers confirmed that star forwards LeBron James and Anthony Davis will miss tonight’s game against the Brooklyn Nets due to injuries.

The team revealed that Davis would be sidelined due to a right foot stress injury, while James will be out with left ankle soreness.

James and Davis took part in a dramatic 125-121 OT loss against the Lakers’ all-time rival, the Boston Celtics, on Saturday. The game was marred by a “no-call” decision on LeBron’s lay-up at the 4.1-second mark that led to overtime.

At the game, James scored 41 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in 44 minutes. Meanwhile, Davis, who came off the bench, tallied 16 points and grabbed 10 boards in 33 minutes.

Aside from James and Davis, Dave McMenamin of ESPN reported that several players were also injured, including Lonnie Walker IV (left knee tendinitis) and Austin Reaves (strained left hamstring).

James inching closer to NBA all-time scoring leader

James is 117 points away from overtaking the current NBA All-Time scoring leader, former Lakers center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Currently, James has collected 38,271 points against Abdul-Jabbar’s 38,387.

Ahead of the 2021-2022 season, Abdul-Jabbar expressed his excitement about James’ chance to break his record.

“I’m excited to see it happen. I don’t see records as personal accomplishments, but more as human achievements,” the Hall-of-Famer said.

Brad Botkin of CBS Sports predicted that James would break the record within three or four games, despite needing to score 39 points each game.

James has averaged 30.2 points per game this season and scored 46 and 41 in two previous games. Although James will sit out Monday’s game against the Nets, he can play next Tuesday against the New York Knicks.

Botkin also predicted that James could break the record on February 7 at the Crypto.com Arena against the Oklahoma City Thunder if he doesn’t miss any more games.

The Lakers’ next games after facing the Knicks are two road games, against the Indiana Pacers on February 2 and the New Orleans Pelicans on February 4.