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Warriors
Jimmy Butler took a nasty spill in Saturday’s win over the Pelicans but sounded confident he will be good to go for Tuesday’s matchup with the Thunder.
He told reporters he is “optimistic” about playing, via ESPN’s Anthony Slater.
Butler has been excellent through 19 games, averaging 20.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.6 steals on strong efficiency across the board.
Lakers
LeBron James was listed as questionable for Sunday against the Pelicans before the Lakers ruled him out because of left foot injury management, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
It is the front end of a back-to-back, with Los Angeles headed to Phoenix on Monday.
Marcus Smart will miss his second straight game with back spasms. He was upgraded to doubtful earlier in the day before the Lakers officially ruled him out.
Pistons
Marcus Sasser is inching closer to a return. The Pistons assigned the third-year guard to the G League to practice with the Motor City Cruise as he works back from a right hip impingement suffered in the preseason.
Detroit said he would be reevaluated in about four weeks and that check-in should come soon.
Sasser had a promising rookie season, followed by an up-and-down second year in which he averaged 6.6 points and shot 38 percent from three in 57 games.
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