The 2021-22 NBA regular season is quickly approaching its end. For some teams, it’s the beginning of their opportunity to be immortalized in the history books. However, for bottom feeder teams, their season ended long back. LeBron James and the cLos Angeles Lakers saw their last hopes for making the playoffs die against the Phoenix Suns last night.
The Los Angeles Lakers needed to win against Phoenix which meant they were doomed even before tip-off. Los Angeles went on to lose with a final score of 121-110 behind Devin Booker‘s 32 points. LA had to play their do-or-die game without LeBron who watched from the sidelines. However, we might just see LeBron ride out the rest of the games left in this season from the sideline as there is nothing more to play for.
LeBron James and the Lakers trio are listed as questionable
LeBron James sat out against the Phoenix Suns on account of ankle sourness. He is listed as questionable for the same reason tonight and will most likely sit out against Golden State.
One source close to the situation said Tuesday that LeBron was likely to continue sitting — no matter what that did to his scoring title chances — if the Lakers were eliminated from play-in consideration. We’ll soon see if that stance holds.
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— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) April 7, 2022
Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook did take the floor against Phoenix. They scored a combined 49 points on good shooting percentages. However, they were destroyed in the 2nd and the 3rd quarter.
The Lakers list LeBron James (left ankle sprain), Anthony Davis (right foot) and Russell Westbrook (right shoulder soreness) as questionable for game at Warriors.
— Brad Turner (@BA_Turner) April 6, 2022
With the loss putting a close on that, the Lakers look to be ‘load managing’ their stars. Both Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook are listed as questionable for tonight. Both of them looked completely healthy indicating the stars are being sat out to focus on next season.
Los Angeles has 3 more games before the season officially closes. The only thing LA can focus is on the off-season. Their draft pick does not belong with them, so they won’t be rebuilding from there. They would need to find the perfect trades and mid to minimum-level contracts to put around the aging stars. Or if things get to it, blow up the entire team.