28 February 2023 , 18:19
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The Los Angeles Lakers have been handed a huge blow as star man LeBron James has been ruled out for a minimum of two weeks, and Anthony Davis has been told it's time to step up.
Things were starting to look great for the Lakers, as they enjoyed a successful trade window and have won four of their last five games. However, James went down clutching his right foot in Sunday's 111-108 win over the Dallas Mavericks and has been ruled out indefinitely, with the Lakers set to assess him in two weeks.
The Lakers are used to dealing with injuries, although it's usually Davis that spends time in the treatment room over James. But now that "the King is down" he has been told to fill the void left by James.
It was a worrying sign on Sunday when James went down in pain, and the NBA star was heard shouting: "I heard it pop." James continued to play through the pain, and was vital in their terrific comeback win against the Mavericks to keep their momentum going.
But although it was a short-term win, the Lakers may lose in the long run as NBA insider Shams Charania said on FanDuel TV: "I’m told likely at least 2 or 3 weeks. He hurt it on Sunday, said live on air 'I heard a pop' but somehow played through it and got back into the game, but this injury comes at a devastating time."
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James posted a picture of his right foot on Instagram, as he said: "F****** sucks." James was only recently saying how the remaining 21 games are some of the most important in his career, but now Davis must take the lead role if they are to have any hopes of reaching the play-offs.
The pressure has been piled on Davis once again to step up"He better dig the hell deep, he's up," said Harry Douglas on ESPN's KJM show. "The King is down, and when they brought you over to LA you were supposed to take all of that pressure off LeBron.
"It was supposed to be you becoming the guy. Now is the time for you to become the guy and be the guy. So you're up, in my eyes, along with everyone else on that team.
"Everyone has to rise tremendously now. But he's (Davis) the only one I'm looking at on this team right now that can do it." The Lakers are sat in 12th in the Western Conference, but they are not out of it yet with a record of 29-32.