BREAKING: LeBron James' Final Injury Status For Mavs-Lakers Game
On Thursday night, the Los Angeles Lakers are hosting the Dallas Mavericks in California.
For the game, they will have their best player in the starting lineup, as LeBron James has been upgraded to available.
Underdog NBA: "LeBron James (ankle) will play Thursday."
The four-time NBA Champion missed Monday's 122-109 loss to the Denver Nuggets in Colorado, which snapped a five-game winning streak for the Lakers.
James comes into the night with impressive averages of 29.1 points, 8.2 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 1.0 steals per contest in 31 games.
Even at 38, he is still playing like a top-ten player in the world.
The Lakers enter Thursday night as the 12th seed in the Western Conference with a 19-22 record in 41 games.
They are 6-4 in their last ten games and a solid 10-8 in the 18 games they have hosted in Los Angeles, California.
With how close the west has been, they are only one game behind the Phoenix Suns and Golden State Warriors for the seventh seed.
On Christmas Day, the Mavs beat the Lakers 124-115 at home in Texas (James had 38 points, six rebounds and five assists).
Right now, the Mavs are tied with the Sacramento Kings for the fourth seed in the west.
They are 23-19 in 42 games and 7-3 in their last ten.
However, the Mavs have struggled on the road, going 7-13 in the 20 games they have played away from Dallas.
Last season, the Lakers missed the playoffs, while the Mavs made the Western Conference Finals.