Los Angeles Lakers will be fine without LeBron James for another week

The Los Angeles Lakers are going to be without LeBron Jaames for at least another week but shouldn’t be hitting the panic button quite yet.

The Los Angeles Lakers’ statement win over the Golden State Warriors on Christmas Day was bittersweet. A dominant win over the defending champions showed that the Lakers can at least hang with the best team in the NBA, however, Los Angeles also lost its best player in the process.

James came up in the third quarter clutching his left groin, it later being revealed that he suffered a left groin strain. At the time, this seemed to be a crisis averted, as a tear of any capacity would have been significantly worse.

However, the strain is proving to be more serious than first anticipated. When the injury first occurred, it seemed as if James would be back after the New Year at full strength. That is not the case, as the Lakers announced on January 4th that James would miss another week and would be reevaluated after the week.

The worst case scenario, at least as it seems right now, is that James will miss another 10-14 days. However, if I were a betting man, I would guess that James is going to be back for the Lakers’ home game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on January 13.

There are another five games between then and now and it is a daunting task for the Los Angeles Lakers, who are 1-3 since the injury (not counting the Christmas Day game).

While the team’s track record without James this year is not promising, it is not time to panic in Los Angeles. In fact, over the next five games, the young core is going to prove that they can hang without James.

The Lakers certainly need James to make a playoff run, that is without question. But the young bucks on the team won’t fall out of playoff contention without him.

Coming up on the Lakers’ schedule is three road games in four days against the New York Knicks, Minnesota Timberwolves and Dallas Mavericks. The team then returns home to host the Detroit Pistons before heading into Utah to square off with the Jazz.

This is a rough patch and a lot of traveling for a short amount of time, however, the teams that the Lakers are facing certainly don’t possess the most daunting challenge.

The 9-29 New York Knicks shouldn’t be much of a problem at all for the Lakers, even without James. While anything can happen, this has the big-game potential for Brandon Ingram against a defense that allows just under 116 points per game.

Minnesota is in a better situation than the Knicks and certainly has more star power, although it is still limited. This definitely is a losable game, but without Jimmy Butler, the Timberwolves are no better than the Lakers without James.

Dallas is going to be a tough game as they have played the Lakers tough with James on the court. Los Angeles still is 2-0 against Dallas this year. Detroit is a fringe playoff team in the Eastern Conference that could give the Lakers’ trouble. From a pure athleticism emphasis, the Lakers have the advantage.

Finally, the Lakers wrap things up against an underperforming Utah Jazz team that is still dangerous. The game being on the road does make it more daunting for LA.

The Los Angeles Lakers’ 1-3 record without James came against the Clippers, Thunder and Kings, twice. Los Angeles had a back-to-back against the Kings and Clippers, which was a disaster waiting to happen with the Kings having the second-highest pace in the NBA.

The Lakers should have won the game against the Clippers if it was not for an ice cold scoreless streak. Not having James certainly contributed to that but the Lakers easily could have been 2-2 in this run.

This current stretch of games is not as big of a challenge as the past four. A 3-2 record over the next five is more than doable and might be the worst-case scenario for the Los Angeles Lakers.