The Los Angeles Lakers are poised for a significant lift as they near the one-month mark of the season, with LeBron James expected to make his long-awaited return this week.
James could suit up as early as Tuesday’s home matchup against the Utah Jazz, potentially marking his first appearance of the season.
The 40-year-old star practiced with the Lakers’ G League affiliate last week and joined full team practice Monday after being sidelined since the preseason with sciatica.
Head coach J.J. Redick said Monday that James’ status for Tuesday remains uncertain, though optimism is growing.
The injury forced James to miss a season opener for the first time in his career. When he steps back onto the court, he will become the first player in NBA history to appear in 23 consecutive seasons, extending one of the league’s most remarkable longevity records.
“Obviously, it’s LeBron and just his presence and his ability is going to lift the team,” Lakers guard Austin Reaves said. “He’s a winner at the end of the day and he has been his whole career, and I expect him to do nothing but come in and be one of the best players.”
The Lakers have played well without their star to this point, getting 34.4 points per game from Luka Doncic and 28.3 from Reaves. New center Deandre Ayton has added 16.2 points and 8.4 rebounds.
In a 119-95 road victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday, Doncic scored 41 points with nine rebounds, Reaves had 25 points and eight assists, and Ayton added 20 points and 10 rebounds.
“Luka and A.R. ... just led us, like they’ve done all season,” Redick said. “Those guys have done an amazing job of leading our basketball team.”
The Jazz have picked up their offense of late, winning two of their past three games while scoring at least 150 points in both victories. They needed two overtimes to reach that mark Sunday when they earned a 150-147 double-overtime win at home over the Chicago Bulls.
The scoring surge is not entirely unexpected. Utah reached at least 129 points in three of its first four games of the season and averaged 112.2 points through 10 games before posting a season-best 152 in a regulation win against the Indiana Pacers last week.
Lauri Markkanen scored 47 points in Sunday’s victory over the Bulls, raising his average to a career-best 30.6 points per game. Keyonte George scored 33 points, and Jusuf Nurkic grabbed 14 rebounds.
Utah rallied from seven points down in the fourth quarter to force overtime and came back from a 15-point deficit in the third quarter as Markkanen scored 25 points in the second half. George won the game with a 3-pointer with 2.0 seconds left in the second OT.
“These are the games that you want to play. Obviously, they’re a lot of fun,” Markkanen told The Salt Lake Tribune. “We wish that we got it done in regulation, obviously, but you wouldn’t change a double-overtime game. Those are fun.”
The Lakers and Jazz will meet again Sunday in Utah.
