LOS ANGELES - With the Lakers all but officially out of playoff contention - trailing the Western Conference's No. 8 seed LA Clippers by 6 ½ games with 17 games left to play - the team is making plans to scale back LeBron James' minutes to close out the season.
"I will be monitoring his work load from here on out," Lakers coach Luke Walton told ESPN on Thursday.
The 34-year-old James played 31 minutes, nearly five less than his season average, in the Lakers' Wednesday loss to Denver.