The Los Angeles Lakers will be back in action on Thursday night as they’re set to host the Toronto Raptors in a battle of the No. 2 seeds in their respective conferences.
Unfortunately for the Lakers, they’ll be without a star player, as Luka Doncic has been ruled out of the game for personal reasons. Doncic’s absence will be felt in a major way, as he currently leads the Lakers in points, rebounds and assists per game on the season.
LeBron James will play vs. Raptors
The good news for the Lakers, though, is that their other star player will be available. LeBron James isn’t listed on the official injury report for the contest, so he should be good to go. James has been limited to just five games so far this season due to an extended bout of sciatica, but he'll get to play in his sixth game against Toronto.
After a subpar performance against the Phoenix Suns earlier in the week, James and the Lakers will be looking to bounce back. James mustered just 10 points, 3 assists and no rebounds in L.A’s 125-108 loss to the Suns, and he connected on just three of his 10 attempts from the floor.
After the game, James was criticized for stat-padding by some in order to keep his 10-point scoring streak alive, including by former NBA player Chandler Parsons.
"He was not coming out until he got it [10 points]," Parsons said. "This just felt like the first step on the way out and kind of catering to his legacy instead of focusing on this season and the game that was already over. Congrats, I guess, but honestly I didn’t love it. It was just obvious what he was doing.”
L.A.'s loss to Phoenix snapped a seven-game winning streak, so the Lakers will be looking to start a new streak on Thursday night. The meeting between L.A. And Toronto is the first of two on the season, as the Raptors will also host the Lakers on Jan. 18.