LeBron James questionable as LA Lakers prepare for Sacramento Kings

LOS ANGELES – Having been dethroned as NBA Cup champions, the Los Angeles Lakers set their sights on a bigger banner when they return from a short break to visit the Sacramento Kings on Dec 19 (Dec 20, Singapore time).

The question is, will LeBron James be joining them?

Like most National Basketball Association (NBA) teams, the Lakers were given Dec 16-18 off this week so that the basketball world could focus on the NBA Cup final between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The Bucks ended up as Cup winners by beating the Thunder 97-81 in Las Vegas.

On Dec 15, James returned from a two-game absence to contribute 18 points, eight assists and eight rebounds in 34 minutes to the Lakers’ 116-110 home win over the Memphis Grizzlies.

With his 40th birthday to come on Dec 30, he indicated after the game that taking eight days off had helped his ailing left foot.

Lakers coach J.J. Redick noted that whenever James plays moving forward, it will be in shorter stints. The future Hall of Famer was listed as questionable for the clash with the Kings.

“Not necessarily less minutes,” Redick said. “But shorter runs so that he’s not getting gassed, and then quicker segments on the bench and then he’s back in.

“If he’s feeling well and feeling good, then he should play. But we obviously want to manage that as best we can.”

James put up a triple-double when the Lakers last beat the Kings in Los Angeles in October. After the Dec 19 contest, the clubs will meet again on Dec 21 in Sacramento to complete an NBA-style double-header.

The Lakers and Kings enter the post-NBA Cup portion of the schedule locked in a seven-team battle for sixth place in the Western Conference and the four play-in spots. The seven teams are separated by two games.

Despite losing eight times in their past 12 games, the Lakers hold the last play-in position. The Kings, who have lost eight of 13, are two places below Los Angeles.

Sacramento would have been in a better position had they been able to close out the visiting Denver Nuggets on Dec 16. However, DeMar DeRozan missed a potential game-winning shot in the final seconds, sending the Kings into a two-day break with a 130-129 loss.

Kings coach Mike Brown cautioned his players after the Denver loss that they need to step up their interior defence ahead of the matchup with the Lakers.

“We gave up 76 points in the paint,” he said.

“This is where our team needs to grow. We have to lock into the details. We got back-cut more times in one game probably than we got back-cut all year. Until our guys lock into the details, we’re going to be a good team, but we’re not going to be where we need to go.”

A silver lining in the defeat was the play of Doug McDermott, who scored 16 points in a rare start with Keegan Murray out due to a sore left ankle.

The Kings hope to have Murray back for the Lakers game, though he, Kevin Huerter (shoulder) and Domantas Sabonis (back) were all listed as questionable. REUTERS