LOS ANGELES — The health of LeBron James has improved since he went down with an abdominal strain, leaving the Los Angeles Lakers optimistic about his return.
James was injured when the Lakers played the Houston Rockets on Nov. 2, forcing him to miss a total of five games.
Although the Lakers didn’t give a timetable for James’ return, people not authorized to speak on the matter said James would be out “at least a week.” He has been out 10 days.
Before the Lakers lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves 107-83 on Friday night at Staples Center, coach Frank Vogel gave an update on James.
“His rehab is progressing nicely,” Vogel said. “He’s back to doing on-court basketball activity, and this does not seem like it’s going to be an extended stretch and he’s to be considered truly day to day.”
The Lakers host the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday and then the Chicago Bulls on Monday in a back-to-back set before they start a five-game trip Wednesday in Milwaukee.
But more pressing was how the Lakers performed in the third quarter Friday, getting outplayed by a Timberwolves team that entered the game on a six-game losing streak.
Minnesota didn’t play like a losing team in the third, building a 24-point lead before settling into an 84-61 lead at the end of the quarter.
Karl-Anthony Towns torched the Lakers in the third, scoring 18 of his points during that span.
The other bad news for the Lakers was that rookie guard Austin Reaves will be out two weeks with a left hamstring injury, leaving them more short-handed.
“Just makes us a little more thin,” Vogel said. “We’re already thin, but we have enough.”
The good news was that Rajon Rondo, who missed the Monday night game with a strained left hamstring, was back playing.
The other news was that Vogel made a change to his starting lineup, inserting guard Wayne Ellington in place of center DeAndre Jordan.
Ellington did his part by making two of five of his three-point attempts and scoring six points in the first half.
Rondo was strong off the bench with seven points and five assists in helping the Lakers open a 49-44 lead over Minnesota at the half.
The Lakers gave themselves more opportunities by turning the ball over just seven times in the first half.
But at the start of the third quarter, the Lakers were slow to react on defense and offense.
After a 9-2 Minnesota run to open the third, Vogel called a timeout with 10 minutes 23 seconds left.
He was forced to call another timeout with 7:32 left in the third after the Lakers went down 63-52 following an Anthony Edwards three-pointer.
Vogel said he saw but hadn’t yet read the email from the NBA in which it advised coaches and players to get the booster shot for COVID-19 “as soon as possible, particularly in light of the current coronavirus situation and increasing cases,” according to a memo obtained by the Associated Press.
AP reported that the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association recommended that the booster shot be received by those who are fully vaccinated and that it be done by Dec. 1.
The Lakers had said during training camp that they expected to be 100% vaccinated.
“We do have part of our meeting tomorrow with our team is to address something regarding the booster shots,” Vogel said.
