The Lakers enter Saturday’s game against the Clippers on a two-game winning streak, and with wins in seven of their last eight games on the road. It’s a stretch to call it a road game, of course, as they will just travel across town to play L.A.’s other team, but given the fact that the Lakers are 12-3 on the road and 7-4 at home, perhaps there will be more of a comfort level at Intuit Dome than there would be in the Crypt.
But one issue that the Lakers are facing, even against a 6-20 Clippers team that has lost five in a row and 10 of their last 11 games, is a depleted starting five that is playing without center Deandre Ayton and guard Austin Reaves. Both are ruled out of Saturday’s game, and now, another starter is on the sidelines: Rui Hachimura, who was downgraded to out with a right groin injury.
Jake LaRavia is likely to start in his place.
Lakers Missing Top Starters Already
The absence of Reaves with a calf injury is no surprise–the team said last Friday that it would take about a week for him to get back on the floor, and that the injury might even keep him out till Christmas.
The team first took notice of the injury before the Lakers’ game against the Spurs last Wednesday.
“It’s hard to pinpoint the exact time during the game,” Redick said of Reaves. “It started to tighten up the day before even though he did very light work intentionally. It’s just one of those things and we’re obviously going to be cautious with it.”
Reaves was on the floor at Lakers practice on Wednesday and appeared to be mobile in video that was provided. The calf injury is not expected to be serious, but the Lakers are being cautious–calf injuries too often lead to Achilles tendon injuries, and teams around the league are taking more and more care with calf injuries given the spate of Achilles injuries the NBA saw last year.
Ayton was a more unexpected injury, as it is not clear how or when he was injured. He did sit out the Lakers’ game in Utah on Thursday.
GettyJJ Redick is in his second season as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Rui Hachimura’s Starting Spot Could Be in Jeopardy
Hachimura will be missed–the Lakers’ defense has been struggling of late, and he has held his spot in the starting five pretty much because of his ability to defend. It does remain unclear how the Lakers’ starting group will shape up when everyone is healthy, given that Luka Doncic and LeBron James will be in the lineup, as will center Deandre Ayton.
It’s unlikely that the Lakers would want to move Reaves to the bench, but keeping him as a starter means L.A. will have four relatively weak defensive starters alongside either Marcus Smart or Hachimura.
Both Smart and Hachimura have been efficient role players on offense while trying to set a tone for the Lakers defense. Hachimura has averaged 13.3 points with 53.5% shooting and 45.6% 3-point shooting.
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