Lakers star LeBron James remains day-to-day after not participating in Monday’s practice, coach JJ Redick told reporters.
James sat out of Friday’s home win over the Pacers and Sunday’s win over the Knicks, being listed on the injury report because of a left elbow contusion he suffered in Thursday’s road loss to the Nuggets and the left foot arthritis he’s continued to deal with.
Sunday was the first time James missed consecutive games since making his season debut in mid-November after sitting out of the first 14 games of sciatica.
He’s averaging 21.4 points (50.4% shooting), seven assists, 5.6 rebounds and 1.1 steals in the 44 games he’s played this season.
ESPN reported that James went through an on-court workout Sunday morning but his left foot didn’t respond well to the post-workout treatment, which is why he sat out.
James hasn’t spoken with reporters since after the loss to the Nuggets.
The 41-year-old James was present for the Lakers’ film session on Monday, with the focus being defense despite the team’s improvements on that end of the floor over the last several weeks.
“Sometimes, when you’re winning you can forget to clean up stuff,” Redick said. “So [Monday] was very much a clean up day for some stuff defensively that we’ve had a little slippage on.”
When the Lakers looked back on the film from the win over the Knicks, they were impressed by their physicality – which has been a season-long talking point.
“We talked about it in the film, the last 7-10 games, our defense has been really good,” Jake LaRavia said. “Our physicality has been really good from the jump. I think we have been playing better overall team defense, being there for each other and just being more connected and talking more. But again, it always starts with physicality. I think we’ve raised that level.”
The Lakers are No. 12 in defensive rating (111.7) over the last 10 games compared to the rest of the league and No. 14 (112.3) since Jan. 18.
What’s led to improved defensive success after having a bottom-five defense for the first half of the season?
“I don’t know; it’s later in the season so obviously we’re heading towards the playoffs now,” LaRavia said. “So, I couldn’t tell you why, but it’s a good time to do it, that’s for sure. We’re all getting closer with each other off the court and just continuing to build relationships. And that helps when you get on the court as far as just being there for one another defensively. We’re doing a really good job.”
Timberwolves outlook
Tuesday’s matchup against the Timberwolves (40-24), who are a game ahead of the No. 5 Lakers (39-25) in the standings and are No. 3 in the West, will be the first time the teams play each other in over four months.
The Lakers have already won the season series after beating the Timberwolves at home in the second game of the season on Oct. 24 before picking up the Oct. 30 road win in Minnesota.
“They’re an awesome team,” Redick said. “They’re top-10 in offense, top-10 in defense. They’re able to generate threes, they’re able to score at the rim. [Ayo] Dosunmu has been a fantastic replacement for Nickeil Alexander-Walker. I would say I’m looking forward to getting into the film later this afternoon, but it’s a daunting task. They’re a really good basketball team.”
