Los Angeles Lakers’ Anthony Davis (3) and LeBron James (23) celebrate as they walk back to the bench in the final seconds of overtime in the team’s NBA basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks in Dallas, Friday, Nov. 1, 2019. The Lakers won 119-110. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
OKLAHOMA CITY — LeBron James and Anthony Davis missed the Lakers’ game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday.
Lakers coach Frank Vogel said James has a chest cold. Officially, the team said he has flu-like symptoms.
James is averaging 25.4 points, a league-leading 10.7 assists and 8.7 rebounds and has helped the Lakers to the best record in the Western Conference. He played on Friday night and had 35 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists in a win over the Dallas Mavericks. Vogel said the performance was especially impressive because James struggled with breathing throughout.
Davis, who leads the Lakers with 27.1 points per game, missed his second straight game with a gluteus maximus contusion.
Danny Green also sat out with a sore right hip. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Rajon Rondo moved into the starting lineup and Kyle Kuzma got his third start of the season.
The short-handed Lakers faced a Thunder team that has won 11 of 13 games and rolled past the Houston Rockets on Thursday night.