Lakers starLeBron Jamesremains day-to-day after not participating in Monday’s practice, coach JJ Redick told reporters.
James sat out ofFriday’s home win over the PacersandSunday’s win over the Knicks, being listed on the injury report because ofa left elbow contusion he sufferedinThursday’s road loss to the Nuggetsand the left foot arthritis he’s continued to deal with.
Sunday was the first time James missed consecutive games since making his season debut in mid-November after sitting out of the first 14 games of sciatica.
He’s averaging 21.4 points (50.4% shooting), seven assists, 5.6 rebounds and 1.1 steals in the 44 games he’s played this season.
ESPN reported that James went through an on-court workout Sunday morning but his left foot didn’t respond well to the post-workout treatment, which is why he sat out.
James hasn’t spoken with reporters since after the loss to the Nuggets.
The 41-year-old James was present for the Lakers’ film session on Monday, with the focus being defense despite the team’s improvements on that end of the floor over the last several weeks.
“Sometimes, when you’re winning you can forget to clean up stuff,” Redick said. “So [Monday] was very much a clean up day for some stuff defensively that we’ve had a little slippage on.”
When the Lakers looked back on the film from the win over the Knicks, they were impressed by their physicality – which has been a season-long talking point.
“We talked about it in the film, the last 7-10 games, our defense has been really good,” Jake LaRavia said. “Our physicality has been really good from the jump. I think we have been playing better overall team defense, being there for each other and just being more connected and talking more. But again, it always starts with physicality. I think we’ve raised that level.”
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
