Lakers Face Fight To Remain As Title Contenders

Defending NBA champions the Los Angeles Lakers could be active before the NBA trade deadline at 3pm ET today.

That’s according to head coach Frank Vogel, who is dealing with the absence of his two best players. Anthony Davis hasn’t played a game since Valentine’s Day.

Meanwhile, LeBron James went down with a right high ankle sprain in the middle of a gruelling 12 day run. LeBron now faces a race against time to be fit for the postseason.

“I think it certainly will impact what our mindset is come trade deadline time,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said.

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However, he expects his team to keep winning, even without the tandem that propelled them to the championship last year.

“My expectation is we’re going to win games with this group, and I believe in the group that we have,” Vogel said. 

“If nothing happens [at the trade deadline], we’re gonna win games and we’ll figure out a way to win games during this stretch, and it will benefit us in the long run. I’m not sure if we’ll see any changes or not. … Most trade deadlines are a lot of talks that result in nothing, and that’s my expectation as a coach.”

That’s easier said than done, though. The Lakers lost 128 – 111 to the Pelicans on Tuesday. That was their third consecutive defeat, and they’re now 7 – 10 without Anthony Davis.

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“You’ve got to be realistic,” Kyle Kuzma said.

“It’s a challenge. But it’s not nothing that we can’t overcome.

“I think we just got to look at the drawing board, continue to trust each other, try to play for one another on both sides of the ball,” he added. 

“I think if we can do that, we give ourselves a chance every single night.

“That’s the challenge we’re up against. Just got to strap it up and go.”