That proved to be the case once again on Sunday night at Crypto.com Arena, as the Lakers beat the injury-plagued New Orleans Pelicans 133-121 while James was out with a left foot injury.
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The Lakers (15-4) won their seventh consecutive game behind Doncic’s 34 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists and Reaves’ 33 points and eight assists.
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The Lakers are scheduled to play against the visiting Phoenix Suns on Monday, but it is unclear whether James will play.
James missed the first 14 games of the season due to sciatica and has played in only four games. Left foot injury management also kept him out of some games last season.
“It’s something we have to manage,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “Given the back-to-back and the fact that he’s basically coming off his training camp — this has been his training camp the last 10 days — (we’re) just being cautious.”
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With James in his 23rd NBA campaign at the age of 40, it remains to be seen how many consecutive games he will play this season. The Lakers have 10 sets left after Monday.
“No, we’re going to prepare him, hopefully he’s able to play back-to-backs,” Redick said. “That’s the goal. But you’re right. Every back-to-back is case-by-case. That’s the reality of the NBA right now. But we want him to be able to play in back-to-backs. He does the same thing. So, we’re going to work toward that.”
The 15-4 Lakers have 63 regular-season games left, meaning James can only miss two more games if he wants to reach the NBA minimum of 65 games players must appear in to earn postseason awards. James has made a league-record 21 consecutive All-NBA teams.
Redick said that individual postseason awards “never came up as anything important” in his discussions with James.
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“I want all of my guys to get the rewards they deserve,” Reddick said. “Of course, I want, you know, Austin, Luka, LeBron, whoever it is, I want them to get awards. It’s great for them, but … it’s way down the list of things you have to worry about and think about as a player and a coach.”
The Lakers scored 77 points in the first half against New Orleans, which is tied for the most points they have scored in any half this season, and they scored 46 points in the first quarter, which is the most points they have scored in any frame this season.
It was an easy night for the Lakers, who also got 22 points and 12 rebounds from DeAndre Ayton, with the Pelicans (3-18) missing starters and key role players, including Zion Williamson, who is nursing a left hamstring injury.
Lakers guard Marcus Smart missed his second consecutive game because of back spasms.
Read more: Austin Reaves helps Lakers and Luka Doncic win over Mavericks
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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
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