Lakers star LeBron James will miss his fifth straight game with a bum ankle Tuesday vs. the Knicks and now has his sights set on a Wednesday return vs. the Rockets, per Adrian Wojnarowski and Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
James initially was hoping to return Tuesday, but the Lakers appear to be staying on the safe side with their greatest hope for a title repeat.
Either way, it appears a return is imminent, after Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports reported he has heard James has put together some “really good days of workouts at a high level” in recent days.
James’ high right ankle sprain originally kept him sidelined for 20 games. He returned April 20 to appear in two games, then went out again with the same injury.
At this point, all the Lakers can hope is that James and Anthony Davis are healthy for the playoffs. Right now, the defending champions are mostly aiming to avoid the West’s play-in game. But a healthy LeBron in a play-in tournament sure beats a sidelined LeBron with a No. 6 seed.
James, 36, is averaging 25.0 points, 7.9 rebounds and 7.8 assists on the season.
