The return of the All-Star big man along with the NBA’s leading scorer would be a major lift to a team that is battling just to make the play-in tournament.
SALT LAKE CITY — As reports surfaced Thursday afternoon that Anthony Davis and LeBron James might return on Friday night against the New Orleans Pelicans, Lakers coach Frank Vogel stressed patience.Both Davis and James missed Thursday night’s game in Utah, the final leg of an otherwise disastrous three-game trip that saw the Lakers cough up a 23-point lead in New Orleans then fall so far behind Dallas as to not remotely threaten the Mavericks at all.
The Lakers have been reeling from the loss of both, going just 4-13 since the All-Star break entering Thursday night’s game. James has now missed two in a row since spraining his ankle in New Orleans on Sunday and hobbling through the second half of that loss. James was an early scratch against Utah: The team confirmed on Wednesday that he had flown home early to get treatment.
“I don’t feel like we’ve caught ourselves yet,” he said. “That was a big blow, having Bron go down. Even in the second half, while he was still out there, we knew he wasn’t quite right. And we knew it was going to be an uphill battle and we didn’t overcome that.” Vogel said Davis worked out both Wednesday and Thursday, getting court time on Thursday as part of his rehab. Davis has played in just 37 of 76 possible games this season, missing time with a knee sprain in the middle of the season.