LeBron James limped to the Lakers’ bench in the fourth quarter Sunday night in New Orleans after having his right ankle stepped on by a Pelicans defender, his body hitting the court after scoring on a 360-degree layup.
James stayed down for a few seconds while looking at his ankle, the same one that forced him to miss 26 out of 28 games since March 20.
He played in the final two games since his return, but when James went down with 6 minutes 35 seconds left, Lakers Nation was holding its collective breath.
James stood up while on the sideline, a towel over his shoulder and a smile on his face, perhaps an indication that he was OK. Later, coach Frank Vogel said James told him that there are no issues.
He had played 27 minutes and produced a stat line of 25 points, six assists and three steals in helping the Lakers win their fifth consecutive game with a 110-98 victory over the Pelicans on the final day of the regular season.
James and Anthony Davis got a taste of action, their final dress rehearsal before the Lakers play the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night in the NBA’s play-in tournament between the seventh- and eight-seeded teams at Staples Center.
They played just enough to get their stamina and legs under them against the Pelicans, and enough for James and Davis to declare themselves fit to start down the path toward defending their NBA championship.
Davis had 14 points and five rebounds in his second game back after missing one because of groin tightness.
The Lakers became the seventh seed in the Western Conference after the Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Denver Nuggets. Though the Lakers and Trail Blazers have the same record at 42-30, Los Angeles lost the series tiebreaker to Portland, 2-1.
So, that means James, Davis and the Lakers gang will have to face the eighth-seeded Warriors and Stephen Curry, who won the NBA’s scoring title this season by averaging 31.8 points per game.
In playing their fourth set of back-to-back games this month, the Lakers had their entire starting lineup score in double figures.
Andre Drummond had his fourth straight double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds.
Dennis Schroder had 12 points and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 10.
