With the Lakers on the front end of a back-to-back on Sunday, LeBron James will only factor into, at most, one of the two contests. After being listed as questionable on Saturday, LeBron was ruled out for LA’s game against the Pelicans with left foot injury management.

Marcus Smart, who missed the game against the Mavericks with back spasms, remains out for Sunday’s game as well.

This is the first back-to-back since LeBron’s return and paints a picture of the Lakers’ plans with him moving forward this season. The benefit of having Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves playing at the levels they are this season is that the team can be more conservative with LeBron.

The Lakers’ record also allows some flexibility. Sitting as the No. 2 seed, on a six-game winning streak and 3.5 games above the pla

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