LeBron James and Anthony Davis will be good to go Tuesday night when the Los Angeles Lakers take on the Toronto Raptors
Both players had been listed on Los Angeles’ injury report Tuesday. James had been questionable with a left ankle injury while Davis had been probable with a left ankle sprain.
Los Angeles will, however, be without Rui Hachimura and Gabe Vincent. Hachimura has been downgraded from doubtful with a left calf strain. Toronto is battling injuries of its own with Jakob Poeltl out indefinitely with a left ankle sprain.
He will miss at least the next two weeks with the injury. Otto Porter Jr. too has been downgraded to out with a right knee sprain. The Raptors will now be forced to turn to Thad Young, Chris Boucher, and Jontay Porter to fill in the frontcourt spots without Poeltl. The 6-foot-11 Porter, who Toronto called up on a two-way contract, is the team’s only somewhat traditional center. He’s played in the last three games for Toronto and appeared in just 14 NBA games for his career.
Boucher, meanwhile, has strung together a pair of double-digit performances off the bench for Toronto and the Raptors will certainly need more of that while Poeltl is out. Young will start for Toronto against the Lakers. Expect to see Scottie Barnes take on a bigger frontcourt role as well over the next couple of weeks. He may see significant playing time as the primary defender on Anthony Davis on Tuesday.
Toronto may elect to lean into some of its smallball lineups Tuesday with Gary Trent Jr. or Dennis Schröder sliding into the starting lineup to replace Poeltl.