The Los Angeles Lakers have been gathering momentum as the end of the regular season nears. They’re on a four-game winning streak and have won nine of their last 10 games, a spurt that momentarily moved them up to eighth place in the Western Conference.
On Sunday, they will face the Minnesota Timberwolves, who are in second place in the West and are fighting for the top seed. If the Lakers win each of their remaining four regular-season contests, they may have a chance of avoiding the play-in tournament altogether.
Unfortunately, they will be short-handed versus Minnesota. LeBron James has been ruled out of Sunday’s game because of an illness.
LeBron James came to the arena Sunday afternoon to begin preparing for the Wolves game and Darvin Ham said his stomach virus made James not feel right. He went home to get rest and not be around his teammates with his flu-like symptoms.
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) April 8, 2024
At first glance, it may seem the team will not have much of a shot at defeating Anthony Edwards and crew without James. Interestingly, Los Angeles is 6-4 without the NBA’s all-time leading scorer this season and has won four of its last five such games.