Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James will miss Sunday’s game against the Denver Nuggets with a sore left ankle, coach Frank Vogel has told reporters.
Vogel said James was going “on a day-to-day basis” after playing in Friday’s 114-111 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. Los Angeles plays Phoenix next Tuesday.
“Has an ankle pain since last night,” Vogel said. “This is essentially like a clash with the early start and we won’t be with him today.”
Anthony Davis will play his second straight game since returning to the lineup Friday after more than six weeks with a right metatarsal sprain, Vogel said.
As of Sunday, James had missed three of the Lakers’ last five games, a stretch that saw Los Angeles fall 5-0 from a one-game pitch in the West in the final week of the regular season.
After Friday’s loss, James said he wasn’t sure about playing against the Nuggets due to the injury.
“Hopefully it reacts right for me in the morning when I wake up and I don’t have any setbacks,” James said.
The Lakers are a game behind the No. 10 San Antonio Spurs with five games left. But with Spurs holding the tiebreaker, Los Angeles will need to pick up two games against San Antonio before the season ends to steal the final play-in spot. The Lakers have to do it with a schedule that includes two games against Denver, one against Phoenix, one against Golden State and one against Oklahoma City.
“We feel sorry for nobody. We don’t feel sorry for each other,” said Vogel on Sunday.
ESPN’s Dave McMenamin contributed to this report.