* Tonight on ESPN: Lakers vs. Jazz, 10:30 ET
The Los Angeles Lakers will be without star forward LeBron James tonight in Salt Lake City, whom the team said will miss the game.
Per Mike Trudell of Lakers.com, the team had mentioned resting James for one game of back-to-back sets for maintenance purposes. James played last night against the Washington Wizards, finishing with 23 points, seven rebounds and 14 assists in a 124-106 win.
LeBron James is out for tonight's game at Utah.
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) March 27, 2019
The team has mentioned that they’d consider sitting James for 1 game of back-to-backs for maintenance purposes, and as he played at home last night, he’s out tonight in Utah. https://t.co/Z5WX8sMj5n
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) March 27, 2019
James had played in the Lakers’ last three games, averaging 25.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and nine assists during that span as L.A. went 2-1. However, James has also missed two of the Lakers’ last six games. He missed last Tuesday’s road game against the Milwaukee Bucks because of a sore right groin and did not play on March 15 against the Detroit Pistons for load management reasons.
The Lakers were eliminated from playoff contention with their home loss to the Brooklyn Nets last Friday. After logging a triple-double against the Sacramento Kings on Sunday, James said he would never “cheat the game” by sitting out or giving less than his all when fully healthy.
