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LeBron James will return after two games out with an ankle issue when the Los Angeles Lakers take on the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday.
Four-time NBA MVP James started the Lakers’ first three games of the season, averaging 26.0 points in 38.0 minutes as his team made a rocky 1-2 start.
The 36-year-old injured his ankle in the Lakers’ first win of the season against the Memphis Grizzlies and missed their subsequent games with the San Antonio Spurs and Oklahoma City Thunder, the latter which they lost by eight points after leading by 26 in the first half.
James was listed in the Lakers’ starting line-up alongside Anthony Davis, who picked up a knee worry against the Spurs before playing 37 minutes and scoring 30 points against OKC.
Russell Westbrook, who had a triple-double but also 10 turnovers before being ejected against the Thunder, as well as Kurt Bazemore and DeAndre Jordan round out the Lakers’ starting five.
James played just 45 games in the 2020-21 season as the Lakers failed to build on their 2020 Finals success with a first round playoffs exit to the Phoenix Suns.
The veteran forward played just 42.9 per cent of possible minutes for the Lakers in the regular season last year, the lowest rate of his career and only the second season in which he has dipped below the halfway mark – also 48.9 per cent in 2018-19, his first season as a Laker.
