The Lakers are set to continue bubble basketball with a Saturday afternoon contest against Indiana at 3 p.m. Pacific on Spectrum SportsNet. Below are three things you need to know:
THE INJURY REPORT
The No. 1 priority for Frank Vogel and his staff in Orlando has been to keep the players as healthy as possible leading into the postseason. Thus far, they’ve had one significant injury, suffered by Rajon Rondo on July 12, when he fractured his right thumb and had surgery that came with a six-to-eight week recovery timetable.
Several other Lakers have found themselves on the injury report throughout the month that they’ve been in the Bubble, but all have been minor. Against the Pacers, Danny Green will be the one player that’s out for sure alongside Rondo, due to a sore right hip.
LeBron James (sore right groin) and Alex Caruso (left neck muscle spasms) both missed the last game against OKC and are listed as questionable, while three players (Anthony Davis, Dwight Howard and Markieff Morris) are probable. We’ll know for sure who’s in and who’s out two hours before the game. Meanwhile, Indiana will continue to be without Domantis Sabonis.
ALL BUBBLE TEAM?
The Pacers and the Lakers both have forwards who have shined in the seeding games, and we should start with T.J. Warren. He exploded in Indy’s first game, going for a bubble-high 53 points on 20 of 29 FG’s against Philadelphia. He followed up with 34 points against Washington and 32 vs. Orlando before he finally struggled against Phoenix, hitting 7 of 20 FG’s for 16 points. His bubble averages: 33.8 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.0 steals, 1.8 blocks, 58.7% FG, 3.8 3PM and 53.6% 3P at the bubble.
Meanwhile, Kyle Kuzma has done some nice work in significantly fewer minutes than Warren, coming off the bench in the first three games before starting against Houston in the absence of LeBron and scoring 21 points on 8 of 16 FG’s. He had 16 points apiece in the first two seeding games, and has made 12 of the 26 3-pointers he’s attempted (46.2 percent).
AWARDS FINALISTS
On Saturday morning, the NBA announced three finalists for its major awards. To the surprise of nobody, LeBron James is in the MVP group, and Anthony Davis the Defensive Player of the Year group. Giannis Antetokounmpo made both lists, while James Harden is an MVP finalist, and Rudy Gobert a DPOY finalist.
I wrote more extensively about LeBron’s MVP push on July 20th, including comments from Frank Vogel.
“Nobody impacts winning more than LeBron James,” said Vogel. “I do believe that he should be the MVP this year. For what LeBron means to our team, even before the season begins when the roster is being put together with the number of guys that are on the Lakers because LeBron James is here and want to play with him. I think it starts there. And then obviously what he’s able to do on the basketball court, orchestrating the offense, leading the league in assists and really setting a tone on the defensive end.”
Rest assured that what’s top of mind for both LeBron and AD is not the postseason awards, but the postseason itself. We’ll see if they start ramping up for the playoff opener in these final three seeding games, starting with Indiana.