The Los Angeles Lakers will be thanking their lucky stars they avoided a major catastrophe on Sunday night. Not only did the Lakers snap their two-game losing streak with a 121-118 win over the Memphis Grizzlies, but they also heaved a huge sigh of relief when superstar LeBron James avoided a major injury in the first half of that game.
Injury scare for James after Bane impact
James went down after his right leg collided with Memphis forward Desmond Bane. The Lakers forward remained on the floor for several minutes, with Los Angeles calling a timeout for the medical staff to assess James' injury situation.
The collision transpired with 6:27 left in the second quarter after Dwight Howard's block attempt on Bane's finger-roll. After Bane's shot went through, he bumped bodies with Howard, resulting in him hurtling towards the leg of James, who was trying to establish a rebounding position at that point.
What made the impact even more concerning for the Lakers was that it happened to the same leg that James injured last season against the Atlanta Hawks. James, at that time, suffered a high right ankle sprain when Solomon Hill crashed into his lower body while attempting to go for the steal.
That proved costly for the Lakers as they tumbled down the standings with James missing 26 regular-season games. The ankle injury did not fully heal for James until months into the offseason as the Lakers exited early in the first round of the 2020-21 NBA playoffs.
James had that injury in mind when Bane hit his right leg on Sunday. He told reporters after the game that the first thing that entered his mind after the hit was "Not again." James explained that even though it was not the same kind of play, it was almost similar with regards to another player falling into his leg. James said, "There's nothing you can do about it and I couldn't get my leg out of there in time."
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James, Anthony lead Lakers to their first win
Fortunately for the Lakers, James was able to shrug off the injury. He played a major part in the Lakers' come-from-behind win, scoring 19 points, grabbing six rebounds, dishing out six assists, and recording two steals and two blocks. The Lakers treated the game as a must-win for them as they faced the possibility of starting the season 0-3.
James made sure that would not be the case, recording a game-high 40 minutes of action against the Grizzlies. He got some help from teammate Carmelo Anthony, who scored 28 points on 10 of 15 shooting from the field, including 6 of 8 from deep.
The Lakers will look to sustain the momentum of that huge win when they face the San Antonio Spurs this coming Tuesday. James admitted that his leg felt sore after the win over the Grizzlies, but he still plans to play against the Spurs, saying, "Hopefully I'm ready to go."
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