LeBron James is not concerned about the outcome of the Western Conference play-in tournament, despite the Los Angeles Lakers’ desire to avoid it.
Los Angeles, which has two games remaining and is tied for seventh in the West, cannot afford another loss when it plays host to the hot Phoenix Suns on Friday.
The Lakers have won seven of their beyond nine games, however they took a harming 125-118 misfortune to the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night. The Lakers (41-39) and the New Orleans Pelicans (41-39) are every one game behind the Clippers (42-38) and the Golden State Warriors (42-38) in the fight for the last two programmed season finisher billets in the West.
The Lakers suffered a painful 11th consecutive loss to the Clippers. Now, they face a Phoenix team that has won a season-high seven games in a row.
The Suns (45-35) are gotten into the No. 4th place in the West, and they might decide to rest some important players for Friday’s second game of a back-to-back set. On Thursday, Phoenix prevailed 119-115 over the Denver Nuggets, who were in town.
Kevin Durant (29 points against the Nuggets), Chris Paul (25 points), and Devin Booker (15 points) are all candidates for rest. Durant hit six three-pointers, and Paul hit a career-high seven threes.
Paul has scored 22 and 25 focuses in his beyond two games subsequent to neglecting to arrive at 20 in his past 27 excursions.
Because he believes teams will make it a priority to stop Paul and Booker, Durant believes that Paul will have more high-scoring games in the postseason.
Paul only had two assists against Denver, and the first came in the game’s final eight minutes.
In the mean time, James has arrived at the midpoint of 35 focuses over the beyond two games yet is recorded as sketchy for Friday because of right foot touchiness. James has recently recovered from a foot injury.
During the Clippers’ defeat, James scored 30 of his 33 points in the second half.
D’Angelo Russell (left foot) is likely to face the Suns, while Anthony Davis (right foot) is also questionable.
After missing the Lakers’ 135-133 overtime victory over the Utah Jazz on Tuesday in Salt Lake City, Russell scored 15 points and had seven assists in 40 minutes against the Clippers.
This season, Phoenix has gone 2-1 against the Lakers, but on March 22, Los Angeles beat Phoenix at home 122-111 to end a six-game losing streak.
