When the Los Angeles Lakers face off against Magic Johnson’s greatest failure as an NBA executive D’Angelo Russell and the Brooklyn Nets on Friday night, they will probably do so with the aid of LeBron James, who sat their last game in Milwaukee against the Bucks. Luke Walton was asked about James’ availability after the 16-year veteran was a partial participant in practice (via Lakers.com): “We’ll see how (James) feels tomorrow, but I think he’ll go tomorrow.” Shortly after practice, several players’ availabilities were announced ahead of Friday’s home game against arguably the most painful Lakers loss in recent memory Russell and the rest of a Nets team still vying for a spot in the postseason. With James available and Scott Machado recently added to the roster on a 10-day contract, it will be interesting to see how Walton handles the point guard rotation. Alex Caruso has thoroughly outplayed Rajon Rondo, but Rondo has been playing more minutes-per-game. One would think that Caruso could eat up the vast majority of Rondo’s minutes, followed by Machado in terms of minutes with a point guard on the court and then James operating as a lead ball-handler whenever he’s out there. After Friday, the Lakers will have only 10 games left of what has been an obviously frustrating and disappointing season. Depending on how things go, the Lakers could also be officially eliminated from postseason contention Friday night. This could very well be one of the last opportunities to see James at Staples Center until next season, given his injury concerns and the lack of any real stakes whenever the Lakers will be stepping onto the court. Still, there’s plenty of reason to watch Friday night, as (unless James has something to say about it) the Lakers could potentially have the final nail in this season’s coffin hammered home by the guy Magic once stupidly considered merely cap space fodder the former Lakers second overall pick. For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts.<doc-sep>Andrew D. Bernstein/Getty Images For the first time since 2004-05, there will be an NBA postseason without LeBron James. On Friday night, the Los Angeles Lakers were officially eliminated from playoff contention with a 111-106 loss to the Brooklyn Nets at Staples Center. It marks the sixth consecutive year the team will miss the postseason, a franchise record. Given Los Angeles had lost four in a row and nine of 10, this was a long time coming. But until Friday, the team was mathematically alive. The latest loss drops the Lakers to 31-41 on the season and ensures the team will not finish above .500. Los Angeles' season started off promisingly enough after it signed James during the offseason. It was in fourth place in the Western Conference after improving to 20-14 with a Christmas Day victory over the two-time defending champion Golden State Warriors. However, that win proved costly. James suffered a groin injury during the game and missed a career-long 17-game stretch. The Lakers went just 6-11 without the four-time NBA MVP—and they were never able to recover. Video Play Button Videos you might like James was hardly the only player to miss time because of injury, though. Rajon Rondo has been limited to just 38 games because of hand and finger injuries, and he too missed nearly a month after being hurt on Christmas Day. The Lakers have already shut down Lonzo Ball (ankle) and Brandon Ingram (deep venous thrombosis) for the season. Los Angeles has dealt with no shortage of adversity this season. Not only has it had to overcome injuries, but the team was also engulfed in trade rumors following New Orleans Pelicans star Anthony Davis' public trade request back in late January. Approximately half of the roster found itself in the rumor mill, and team president Magic Johnson later alleged New Orleans did not negotiate in good faith. ESPN's Brian Windhorst told Rachel Nichols on ESPN's The Jump last month that the Pelicans leaked trade talks in order to sabotage the Lakers. Well, Los Angeles was 26-24 prior to the Davis fiasco. It is 5-17 since. As the Lakers' playoff drought continues, James will see a couple of noteworthy streaks come to an end. While he will miss out on the postseason for the first time in 14 years, his run of eight consecutive NBA Finals appearances is also snapped. The last Finals without James came back in 2010, when the Lakers repeated as champions with a seven-game victory over the Boston Celtics.<doc-sep>
Seth Wenig/Associated Press The Los Angeles Lakers have been conservative with LeBron James, but head coach Luke Walton said his star player will take the court Friday night against the Brooklyn Nets, according to Mike Trudell of the team's official site. James had been dealing with a sore left groin that kept him out for Tuesday's game against the Milwaukee Bucks. The Lakers enter Friday on the brink of elimination with a 31-40 record and 10.5 games back of the final playoff spot. A loss against the Nets would seal the team's fate as a lottery team. Los Angeles seemingly hasn't cared about making the playoffs for the past few weeks, losing nine of 10 games since the start of March. Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports reported earlier this month the team's plans to begin putting James on a minutes restriction. He has sat out two of the last three games and hasn't played more than 35 minutes in any of his last five appearances. On the plus side, the Lakers have fallen far enough down the standings that they are now in the hunt for a top pick in the NBA draft. According to Tankathon, the team currently has a 3 percent chance of getting the No. 1 overall selection and a 13.9 percent shot of a top-four pick. Still, the team remains mathematically alive for a playoff spot, and James will seemingly do what he can to keep the narrow hopes of a comeback intact. Video Play Button Videos you might like Additionally, the fans at the Staples Center will get an opportunity to see the superstar in the team's first home game after a five-game road trip.