Bye Luka Doncic And Austin Reeves play, Lakers always have a good chance of winning, even if LeBron James absent.
That was proven true once again Sunday night at Crypto.com Arena as the Lakers swept past the injury-depleted New Orleans Pelicans. 133-121 without James treatment of left foot injury.
The Lakers (15-4) won their seventh straight game behind Doncic, who had 34 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists, and Reaves, who had 33 points and eight assists.
The Lakers have a game against the visiting Phoenix Suns on Monday, but it is unclear whether James will play.
James missed the first 14 games of this season with sciatica and played in just four games. Managing a left leg injury also kept him out of some games last season.
“This is something we had to deal with” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “Given that, and the fact that he basically just got out of training camp – this has been his training camp for the last 10 days or so – [we’re] just be careful.”
With James now 40 years old and entering his 23rd NBA campaign, it remains to be seen how many consecutive games he will play this season. The Lakers have 10 sets remaining after Monday.
“No, we're going to get him ready, hopefully so he can play back-to-back games,” Redick said. “That's the goal. But you're right. Every game in a row is an individual case. That's the reality of the NBA right now. But we want him to be able to play in a row. So does he. So we'll work on that.”
The 15-4 Lakers have 63 regular-season games remaining, meaning James can only miss two more if he wants to reach the NBA minimum of 65 games that players must play in to earn postseason honors. James made a league-record 21 straight NBA teams.
Redick said individual postseason honors were “never something that was important” in his discussions with James.
“I want all my guys to get the award they deserve,” Redick said. “Obviously, I want, you know, Austin, Luka, LeBron, whatever, I want them to win awards. It's great for them, but… the list of things that you have to worry about and think about as a player and a coach, it's way down the list.”
The Lakers scored 77 points in the first half against New Orleans, setting the most points they have scored in any half of the season, and they scored 46 points in the first quarter, the most in any frame this season.
It was an easy night for the Lakers, who also got 22 points and 12 rebounds from Deandre Ayton, while the Pelicans (3-18) were missing their starters and key players, including Zion Williamson, who was nursing a left hamstring injury.
Lakers guard Marcus Smart missed his second straight game with back spasms.
