Is LeBron James Playing Tonight vs Hawks? Lakers Injury Report Ahead of Crucial Seeding Game for LA Side

The Los Angeles Lakers are set to face off against the Atlanta Hawks within the next few hours. Both currently occupy the 10th seed on the points chart, with the Lakers representing the Western Conference and the Hawks the Eastern. Since both teams need a win to have a shot at the playoffs and avoid the dreaded play-in series, fans will be anticipating them to put their best foot forward. For the Lakers, this would involve allowing their star scorer, LeBron James, to take the offensive lead. However, with the player’s month-old ankle injury still not fully healed, his availability for the game remains hidden in a cloud of doubt.

A few hours ago, ‘The Sports Focus LA’ journalist Carlos Yakimowich took to his official X account to share an update on LeBron James’ availability. He highlighted a picture from the Lakers Status Report released a couple of hours ago, which stated that “Anthony Davis (left corneal abrasion) and LeBron James (left ankle peroneal tendinopathy) are questionable”.

LeBron James was also listed as ‘questionable’ on the Injury Report released before his team’s previous game against the Warriors. As fans would later go on to see, however, the player pulled up to the game and scored an astonishing game-high 40 points in 38 minutes. Therefore, there is a good 50/50 possibility that the Lakers will appear against the Hawks and even manage to repeat his earlier success.

LeBron has been appearing on the injury report with his ‘left ankle peroneal tendinopathy’ since December of last year. While the 39-year-old has attempted to make himself as much available as possible, he has still missed 9 games this season due to the injury. It also limited him to just 14 minutes of playtime during the not-so-recent All-Star Game. While the four-time NBA champion is a crucial player to have in any game, his presence is required when facing off against the Hawks.

How has LeBron James performed against the Atlanta Hawks?

During his ongoing tenure with the Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James has faced off against the Atlanta Hawks in 10 out of 11 games. While the player has secured a win for his team in 7 of those games, he has also managed to put up an impressive play against them each time.

In his 10 games against the Hawks, LeBron has accumulated an average score of 27.4 points, 8 rebounds, and 8.8 assists. He has scored above 30 in 4 of those games and has never let his points drop below the double digits. The player is a reliable source on defense and offense, given his 106.2 defensive rating against the Hawks.

The player went below his average when both franchises met for the first time this season in January. With his 20 points, 9 rebounds, and 8 assists, the player could not match the prowess of Trae Young and Dejounte Murray. Given his stellar record, however, it would be wrong not to expect some miracle from LeBron if he does manage to appear on Monday at the Crypto.com Arena.

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