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The Los Angeles Lakers, led by LeBron James, are gearing up to take on the Dallas Mavericks. It's a matchup between two teams that came into the season with championship aspirations.
The Los Angeles Lakers (27-33) have had a challenging season under coach Frank Vogel as they are ninth in the Western Conference.
They have hovered around the 0.500 mark all season and currently find themselves six games below 0.500. They have won only three of their last 10 games and are currently on a two-game losing streak.
LeBron James' team is 3.5 games behind city rivals the Los Angeles Clippers and are in desperate need of an uptick in form if they are going to earn a top-six seed and avoid the Play-In tournament.
James is listed as questionable for tonight's game. Without him, it will be even tougher for the Lakers to overcome Dallas, a team coming off a comeback win over the Golden State Warriors.
One of the reasons the Lakers have struggled so much is the lack of cohesion and chemistry between Russell Westbrook and James.
That, coupled with Anthony Davis missing a huge chunk of games with a knee injury and the team being lackadaisical on defense, means the Lakers have struggled immensely this season.
James has also missed 17 games, mostly due to an abdominal injury but has also suffered a knee injury, and has been nursing that pain for quite some time now. The Lakers are 7-10 without LeBron on the floor.
LeBron James is questionable for tonight's game against the Dallas Mavericks
The Los Angeles Lakers have officially listed LeBron James as questionable for tonight's game against the Dallas Mavericks. James has already missed 17 games this season, and at age 37, it seems injuries are starting to bother him.
While James' main injury problem this season has been his abdomen, knee soreness isn't exactly something new and that will need to be taken care of diligently.
It is the type of injury that will usually require the summer to completely recover from, much like the ankle injury that he suffered last season ahead of the playoffs.
There have been calls to shut down LeBron James for the rest of the season. Many believe this Lakers roster is going nowhere and there is no point in jeopardizing the health of James and the future of the team.
James is averaging 29 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 6.3 assists this season while shooting the ball nearly 35% from the perimeter and a shade under 52% from the field.
He has recorded four triple-doubles and 16 double-doubles this season for the Lakers. He will surely want to continue playing as he inches ever closer to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's scoring record and also has a chance of winning the scoring title this season.
