Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) and guard Luka Doncic (77) react after a play during the first quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Crypto.com Arena.
Mandatory Credit: Jason Parkhurst-
The Lakers will be healthy again for their upcoming game against the Chicago Bulls.
The Los Angeles Lakers have been decimated by injuries over the past few weeks, but they got some good news on Friday regarding the availability of their top players. According to the latest injury report (via Jovan Buha) the Lakers are getting healthier and could be whole for their next home game against the Bulls on Saturday.
Luka Doncic, Dorian Finney-Smith, Austin Reaves, and Jarred Vanderbilt are listed as probable.
Rui Hachimura, LeBron James, and Gabe Vincent are questionable.
The only player listed as out right now is Maxi Kleber, who has yet to make his Lakers debut.
Players have been in and out of the lineup for head coach JJ Redick and he’s been doing his best to make the most of it. Fortunately, he’ll get some reinforcements this weekend that should set the team back on the right track.
Against the Bucks on Thursday, the Lakers were a shell of themselves. They were down six rotation players, including four starters and their three leading scorers in the blowout loss.
Fortunately, the Lakers are finally getting healthy and it’s not a second too soon. At fourth in the standings (43-26), the Lakers are currently in a heated battle in the West standings and they need all the help they can get.
The most important piece to this is LeBron James. He left the Celtics game early on March 8 and hasn’t been seen since. The groin injury has taken two weeks to recover but after returning to LA for treatment, LeBron is set to make his return tomorrow. He’s averaging 25.0 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 8.5 assists per game on 51.7% shooting this season.
Luka Doncic has been mostly healthy for the Lakers but he did take the last game off to help with his recovery from a sprained right ankle. As the team’s leading scorer and playmaker, his return will be huge for the Lakers and now he can continue to build chemistry with LeBron James.
Reaves was listed as out with an ankle injury but the real reason he missed the game was likely due to the team’s ridiculous schedule, which involved six games in eight nights.
Rui Hachimura has been out for the past 12 games with left patellar tendinopathy. He was playing some of the best basketball of his career before going down, with averages of 13.3 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game on 50.6% shooting.
Now that the most brutal part of their schedule is over, the Lakers are ready to lock in for the final stretch of the season but the road ahead is anything but easy.
As the Thunder and Rockets lead the West, LA will need to be at full strength to keep up. If LeBron James, Austin Reaves, and Luka Doncic are healthy, however, the Lakers have a chance to beat any team in their way.
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