LeBron James out vs. Denver Nuggets as Los Angeles Lakers look to climb back into play-in berth

Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James will miss Sunday's game against the Denver Nuggets with a sore left ankle, coach Frank Vogel told reporters.

Vogel said James is considered day-to-day going forward.

Anthony Davis will play his second straight game since returning to the lineup Friday after more than six weeks out with a right midfoot sprain, Vogel said.

Entering Sunday, James had missed three of the Lakers' past five games, a stretch in which Los Angeles has gone 0-5 to fall out of a play-in spot in the West entering the final week of the regular season.

Following Friday's 114-111 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans, James had said he wasn't sure whether he would play against the Nuggets due to the injury.

«Hopefully it reacts the proper way for me in the morning when I wake up and I have no setbacks,» James said.

The Lakers trail the No. 10 San Antonio Spurs by a game with five games left to play. But by virtue of the Spurs holding the tiebreaker, Los Angeles has to pick up two games on San Antonio before the season's end to steal the final play-in spot. The Lakers will have to do it with a schedule that includes two games against Denver, one against Phoenix, one against Golden State and one against Oklahoma City.

Information from ESPN's Dave McMenamin was used in this report.