Why isn’t Lebron James playing in the Lakers vs Clippers game tonight, Jan. 23?
It’s intercity showdown tonight as the Clippers and Lakers go head to head from Los Angeles, but LeBron James will not available for Darvin Ham’s team.
The Los Angles Lakers have a spotlight showdown in the City of Angeles against their intercity rivals the LA Clippers. The Lakers have been struggling lately, and need all the help they can get, but tonight they will be without LeBron James against one of the top teams in the Western Conference.
LeBron gets the night off
James has been battling an ankle injury all year, but he has featured in a 40 of the Lakers 44 games this season although a minutes limit has been put on him so he can stay fresh deep into the season. Darvin Ham doesn’t always abide the minutes limit that the team has for James, so the wear and tear on that ankle might finally be taking its toll.
The four time champion played in the Lakers last game against the Portland Trail Blazers scoring 28 points in 31 minutes which is just over the team imposed limit. This might come at an unfortunate time for the boys in purple in gold considering LeBron’s stat line in the first two games against the Clippers.
In their game earlier this month he scored 25 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists, in their first matchup he went for 35, 12 and 7 assists. The Lakers won both those games, and will look make it three straight but they will do without the NBA’s All-time leading scorer.