Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James had to sit out of Saturday’s match against Sacramento Kings due to illness, head coach JJ Redick revealed after the team’s 132-122 win. This was the third match of the season, which James missed. The Lakers are now 2-1 without James in the lineup.
Gabe Vincent replaced James in the starting five but was ruled out with oblique strain after going scoreless in the first even minutes.
James missed practice on Friday because of the illness and was listed as questionable for the Sacramento game by the team.
“No concern, he’s just a little under the weather,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said of James.
James will have four days to recover for the next match against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday. The veteran will also turn 40 on Monday.
On the other hand, Anthony Davis was the star of the show for the Lakers with 36 points on 12-for-16 shooting, 15 rebounds and 8 assists. Austin Reaves added 26 points and contributed a career-best 16 assists to help the Lakers bag all three points.
“It’s really just about playing the game the right way, trusting the offense, the system that we have,” Reaves said. “It’s never fun to not have Bron. He creates so much chaos and security for us. But it’s just a collective group. Everybody knows that they got to step up and do something too for us to be successful.”
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Lakers have managed five wins in their last six games and they currently have a 18-13 record in the ongoing season. The Lakers are in fifth place in the Western Conference standings.