What It Means:

James injured his ankle during Sunday's game and was able to play through it. He was initially listed as probable for Tuesday, but was downgraded to questionable this morning and has now been ruled out. The Lakers are on the front end of a back-to-back, so they may be erring on an extreme side of caution here. Carmelo Anthony could draw start in place of James and there should be larger roles on offense for Russell Westbrook and Anthony Davis.

LeBron and Davis are leading the Lakers with respective 28.1% usage rates. Westbrook is third at 25.6% and Melo is next at 21.1%. When LeBron is off the floor this season, Westbrook's usage rate increases by 11.1% to a team-high 36.5%. Davis' usage rate is plus-6.2% without LeBron and Melo's is plus-5.1%.