LeBron James returns, but Anthony Davis, 2 other starters sit out against Spurs

SAN ANTONIO — The Lakers were without three-fifths of their usual starting lineup for Friday nght’s game against the San Antonio Spurs.

LeBron James was back in the lineup after missing Wednesday’s 122-119 victory over the Spurs – the second night of a back-to-back – because of a left calf contusion (bruise).

But Anthony Davis (left adductor/hip spasm), Cam Reddish (right knee soreness) and D’Angelo Russell (non-COVID illness) were ruled out less than an hour before tipoff.

The absences of those three players, in addition to Jalen Hood-Schifino (low back spasm) and Maxwell Lewis (G League assignment) and Gabe Vincent (left knee effusion – swollen joint) already being sidelined, left the Lakers with eight players signed to standard NBA contracts.

The Lakers’ rotation was the starting lineup of James, Austin Reaves, Max Christie, Taurean Prince and Jaxson Hayes, plus Jarred Vanderbilt, Rui Hachimura and Christian Wood coming off the bench.

Two-way players Colin Castleton, Alex Fudge and D’Moi Hodge were also available for the Lakers. Hodge was in the first-quarter rotation.

Davis had been dealing with the adductor/hip injury for more than a month. He originally suffered the injury in the Nov. 6 loss to the Heat in Miami and missed the Nov. 8 road loss to the Houston Rockets. Davis aggravated the injury late in the first half of Tuesday’s loss to the Dallas Mavericks, subbing out for the final two minutes of the second quarter before returning for the second half.

He had 37 points, 11 rebounds and two blocked shots against the Mavericks and said before Tuesday’s game that he hadn’t been bothered by the injury in a couple of weeks.

Davis had 37 points, 10 rebounds and four steals in Wednesday’s win against the Spurs.

“I thought I was past the hurdle,” Davis said after the loss to the Mavericks. “Since the Cleveland game [on Nov. 25], it’s been very fine. First time I felt it, tweaked it again was Saturday against Indiana. Three-week stretch where it felt completely fine, felt normal, had no problems and so not sure. They say to keep getting treatment, keep trying to get it to feel good to keep it feeling good.”

REAVES, GINÓBILI COMPARISON

When Coach Darvin Ham first started using Reaves as a reserve in the Nov. 10 road victory over the Phoenix Suns, Ham likened the decision to how the Spurs had Manu Ginóbili come off the bench for significant stretches of his career even though he was one of San Antonio’s best players.

“It wasn’t a demotion for Austin, it was just a realignment,” Ham said then. “If anybody remembers those great San Antonio teams where everyone in the world knew Manu was a starter. But sometimes to balance out your lineup, you have to put a player of his magnitude in a reserve role so now when the starters go to sit down and take their break, you’re not totally falling off a cliff. You have balance in the second unit.”

When asked about the comparison, longtime Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said being able to make that kind of decision – having one of the best players coming off the bench – comes down to the character of said player.

Reaves’ start on Friday because of the Lakers’ injuries was his first since Nov. 8.

“All you can say is guys like Austin and Manu, it’s about their character,” Popovich said. “Everybody won’t go for that. So it’s to their credit to understand what’s best for the whole group and have that kind of selflessness. And it became obvious to Manu that we’d be a much better team if he was coming off the bench.

“He didn’t love it in the beginning. Probably to this day, he’ll tell you he didn’t love it because he’s a competitor, he wants to start, which is a typical human reaction. But he did the right thing because of his character. So I assume it’s the same with Austin. I don’t know him, but he seems like he’s the same kind of person.”