{"id":543580,"date":"2026-01-17T22:12:17","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T22:12:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/543580\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T22:12:17","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T22:12:17","slug":"is-lebron-james-playing-tonight-vs-portland-trail-blazers-latest-injury-updates-on-los-angeles-lakers-star-ahead-of-saturdays-clash-nba-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/543580\/","title":{"rendered":"Is LeBron James playing tonight vs Portland Trail Blazers? Latest injury updates on Los Angeles Lakers star ahead of Saturday\u2019s clash | NBA News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"IsLeBron James. Image via: Getty Images The Los Angeles Lakers star, LeBron James<\/a> have been playing exceptionally well this season, despite injuries. He has even made it to the top of the all-time scorer\u2019s list, thereby moving one step closer towards becoming the final MVP of the 2025-2026 season. However, a few weeks ago, the 4x NBA champion developed an injury while playing on the court, which was later revealed to be Sciatica. Will the Lakers legend play tonight against the Portland Trail Blazers, which will tip off at 10:00 pm ET, on SportsNet LA and NBA TV? His presence for tonight\u2019s clash is very much crucial for the Lakers, as they are heavily reliant on him. Besides, James\u2019 versatility could prove to be advantageous, thereby making the Lakers one step closer towards finals. Here is everything you need to know about LeBron James\u2019 latest injury updates and whether he will be available for tonight\u2019s clash. <\/p>\n

Will LeBron James play tonight against the Portland Trail Blazers?<\/p>\n

The fact that LeBron James is just freshly recovered from his Sciatica injury creates a fuss in the minds of his fans and the media and raises questions before every Lakers\u2019 matchup. James will be playing in tonight\u2019s clash with the Trail Blazers while delivering the best of his moves. He is not listed on the official injury report, making this the fifth consecutive game for the Lakers legend. James has delivered exceptional scores this season, averaging 22.7 points, 6.9 assists, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.1 steals per game, and that looms large. The match right now favors the Lakers due to the availability of their potential star player, LeBron James. However, without Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, the team has to reformulate its strategies, along with James. <\/p>\n

LeBron James has been dealing with sciatica since July<\/p>\n

The NBA star has been suffering from Sciatica since late July and has even missed training camps and early-season matches. The injury developed on the right side, which gradually radiated down his leg, making him unable to play for a significant number of games. He was also suffering from left foot joint arthritis. Although his recent series of injuries has affected his lower back and leg, making him either questionable or sidelining him in most of the games, he still managed to make a comeback, thereby delivering mind-blowing scores in the 2025-2026 matches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LeBron James. Image via: Getty Images The Los Angeles Lakers star, LeBron James have been playing exceptionally well…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":543581,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3784],"tags":[7,601,57764,185,25115,40834,74654,74653,150,13006,6,45371,8889,687,471,3967,1617],"class_list":["post-543580","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-portland-trail-blazers","tag-basketball","tag-blazers","tag-lakers-vs-trail-blazers","tag-lebron-james","tag-lebron-james-injury-update","tag-lebron-james-playing-tonight","tag-lebron-james-sciatica-recovery","tag-lebron-james-stats-2025-2026","tag-los-angeles-lakers","tag-los-angeles-lakers-news","tag-nba","tag-nba-2025-2026-season","tag-nba-injury-report","tag-portland","tag-portland-trail-blazers","tag-portlandtrailblazers","tag-trail-blazers"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115912740664951332","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543580","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=543580"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543580\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/543581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=543580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=543580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=543580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}