Despite playing 37 minutes last night against the Houston Rockets, Lakers superstar LeBron James said after the game that he was going to play the following night against the Hawks. While James said he was going to play, it was still fair to wonder what his status might be on the second night of a back-to-back. The answer to whether James is going to play tonight has just been revealed.

He is going to be available to play tonight for the Lakers.

LeBron James (left ankle peroneal tendinopathy) has been upgraded to AVAILABLE for tonight’s game at Atlanta.

— Ryan Ward (@RyanWardLA) January 31, 2024

Atlanta will need to shoot the ball better in this game than they did against the Raptors. The Hawks shot 6-27 (22%), but four of those makes came from one player, Bogdan Bogdanovic. As good of a game as Saddiq Bey had, he was 0-6 from three, Trae Young was 1-4, and the bench did not have a good night shooting. They were fortunate to be playing such a shorthanded and average team last night or else their poor shooting might hurt them. The Lakers are near the bottom of the league in three-point attempts allowed.

Los Angeles has been known as an elite defensive team since James and Anthony Davis teamed up, but that is not the case this year. The Lakers are 19th in PPG allowed, 15th in field goal percentage, 21st in three-point percentage allowed, and 28th in three-point attempts allowed. Per Cleaning the Glass, the Lakers are 13th in points allowed per 100 possessions and 17th in effective field goal percentage.

Young could have a big game tonight. Both of the Lakers starting guards, D’Angelo Russell and Austin Reaves, are poor defenders and I would bet that Young and Murray if he plays, will certainly try to exploit these two players on that end of the court.

James might be getting up there in age, but he is still one of the league’s best players and is capable of having a huge night. This season, he is averaging 25.0 PPG, 7.7 APG, and 7.4 RPG. His teammate, Anthony Davis, is having one of the best seasons of his career. He is averaging 24.9 PPG and 12.1 RPG, while also averaging 2.3 BPG.

While those two players are the big stars, D’Angelo Russell is having a nice season as well. He is averaging 17.3 PPG and 6.1 APG while shooting 47.8% from the field and 42.1% from three. His defense leaves a lot to be desired, but he is having a bounce-back offensive season.

The numbers for the Lakers don’t jump off the page. They are 14th in PPG, 7th in field goal percentage, 30th in three-point attempts, 15th in three-point percentage, 7th in free throw attempts, 22nd in rebounding, and 23rd in turnovers. Per Cleaning the Glass, the Lakers are 19th in points per 100 possessions, 11th in effective field goal percentage, 20th in turnover percentage, 29th in offensive rebounding percentage, and 8th in free throw rate.

The numbers for the Hawks’ defense are hard to look at. They are 29th in PPG allowed, 28th in field goal percentage allowed, 18th in three-point attempts allowed, and 28th in three-point percentage allowed. Per Cleaning the Glass, the Hawks are 26th in points allowed per 100 possessions and 29th in effective field goal percentage allowed.

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