LeBron James looks good in return for Lakers

After having to delay his return earlier this week, LeBron James was back on the court Saturday afternoon. Playing for just the third time since suffering a high ankle sprain March 20, James posted 24 points, eight assists and seven rebounds in 28 minutes as the Lakers topped the Pacers to stay alive in the race for a top-six seed and a chance to avoid the play-in tournament.

Coach Frank Vogel was encouraged by what he saw out of James on Saturday, tweets Mark Medina of USA Today. “He’s looked really good,” Vogel said, adding that “obviously it’s going to take time before he gets to be 100%.” 

James called Saturday’s game “a complete 180” from the last time he tried to play, which was May 2 against the Raptors, writes Kyle Goon of The Orange County Times. His ankle stiffened up at halftime in that game, but Saturday there was just “a tiny bit” of soreness.

“I still got some more room for improvement as far as my ankle and my mobility and my strength,” James said. “But I’m 10 times better than I was in that Toronto game and I believe I can get five-to-ten times better in the future. The more games that we have, the more opportunity that I get to really just continue to strengthen it, strengthen everything around it.”

There’s more on the Lakers:

• L.A. needs a win Sunday in New Orleans and a loss by the Trail Blazers against Denver to finish in sixth place. With the stakes so high, there might be temptation to have James test out his ankle in a back-to-back situation, but he wasn’t able to offer any clues as to whether he’ll play, Medina adds (via Twitter). “It’s up to the coaching staff and training staff,” James told reporters.
• Dennis Schröder played his first game Saturday since clearing the NBA’s health and safety protocols, but his postgame answers left reporters confused, Goon notes in the same story. Schröder said he never tested positive for COVID-19 and admitted being the only Laker who didn’t get the vaccine. “At least I can’t get it no more in the playoffs, so that’s probably the best thing,” he added. Schröder became frustrated when pressed for an explanation and refused to comment any further.
• Jovan Buha of The Athletic examines the Lakers’ potential playoff rotations to determine which combinations will work best around James and Anthony Davis.