LeBron James, Anthony Davis sit out Lakers’ game in Toronto

TORONTO — You never know what might not make it across the border.

Unfortunately for the Lakers, it was three-fifths of their starting lineup.

LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Patrick Beverley all were ruled out on Wednesday night against the Toronto Raptors, each of them managing day-to-day injuries or issues. It was Davis’ second straight missed game with illness, which Ham modified to “cold-like symptoms” though his big man had a fever on Tuesday. James was rested for left ankle soreness, while Beverley was off for right knee soreness.

Ham wasn’t exactly thrilled to be without Davis and James (averaging a combined 53.3 points and 16.5 rebounds) against a top-10 NBA defense. But considering the circumstances, he’d rather get his veterans healthy during a road trip that next takes them to Philadelphia against a strong MVP candidate in Joel Embiid.

“A back-to-back and still games left to go on this road trip, it’s tough – it’s always a tough place to play,” he said. “But just for the big picture and monitoring the situation, trying to get ahead of that.”

All three inactive players – as well as Wenyen Gabriel who is expected to miss the rest of the six-game road trip with a left shoulder sprain – were present at Scotiabank Arena.

The most concerning of the trio might be James’ ankle injury. James rolled the ankle against Indianapolis on Nov. 28 and played through the discomfort. He’s also tweaked it in subsequent games against Portland and Washington, and in the latter acknowledged that he was feeling discomfort. But James also rarely misses a chance to play in Cleveland, where he was less than top form in his shooting and scoring (8 for 17, 21 points).

In previous seasons, James has publicly rebuked the idea of managing his minutes or workload. But James has already missed seven of 24 games so far this season, including five straight with an adductor strain. Ham said he’s tried to plan ahead for games or moments to give the 20-year veteran (who turns 38 later this month) time to recover – similar to how the Lakers managed Kobe Bryant when Ham was an assistant under Mike Brown.

“I went to him days ago,” Ham said. “Like, ‘This is what I’m thinking, this is what I want to do and just let me know how you feel as we get closer. But I want to plant the seed right now and let you know where I’m at.’ And if it takes me saying, ‘Nope. Nuh uh.’ Just getting ahead of it and really saving him from himself, then you just have to do that.”

The Lakers – who had won eight of their past 11 games to improve to 10-13 going into Wednesday’s game – wound up starting Thomas Bryant, Austin Reaves and Juan Toscano-Anderson in place of their missing starters.

It’s not particularly surprising these days, but even without his two key players, Ham still declined to move Russell Westbrook into the starting lineup. Ham cited keeping a consistent rotation as a motivating factor, but he also framed his steadfastness in Westbrook’s bench role as having an “ace of spades” in his back pocket.

“For the most part, it’s great knowing that he’s there,” he said. “If we’re getting off to a really good start, he’s able to come in and sustain it. If we’re struggling, he’s able to come in and take the energy and the pace up to a whole different level. That helps us.”

Kyle Goon is a Maryland native who kept traveling west in search of stories. Kyle has been a Lakers beat reporter since 2018, and was one of a few reporters inside the NBA bubble in 2020. He previously worked at The Salt Lake Tribune covering the Utah Jazz and Utah Utes. He is a University of Maryland alum.