The Los Angeles Lakers released their injury report for Saturday night’s game against the Chicago Bulls and both LeBron James (left groin strain) and Rui Hachimura (left patellar tendinopathy) have been upgraded to questionable.
Additionally, Luka Doncic (right ankle sprain), Austin Reaves (right ankle sprain), Dorian Finney-Smith (left ankle injury management) and Jarred Vanderbilt (right groin strain) are probable while Gabe Vuncent (left knee injury management) is questionable and Maxi Kleber (right foot surgery recovery) remains out.
James and Hachimura have both been making significant progress in their respective recoveries in recent days and now appear to be on the verge of returning. If they are not able to play against the Bulls on Saturday then it is reasonable to expect them back at some point on the upcoming road trip.
As the end of the regular season nears, everyone on the Lakers is seemingly banged up right now, which isn’t surprising considering they are coming off a six-game in eight-day stretch.
Despite being without James and Hachimura for all of it and other key players at times as well, the Lakers managed to go 3-3 during that stretch. Their schedule gets a bit easier from here, giving the Lakers an opportunity to stack up some wins and battle for the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference.
Considering there aren’t many games left though, the Lakers will be cautious with their injured players to ensure they are 100% healthy and don’t suffer any setbacks that could force them to miss time in the playoffs.
JJ Redick: Lakers have missed LeBron James’ voice on defense
Getting LeBron James back in the lineup will be a huge boost for the Lakers on both ends of the floor heading into the home stretch of the regular season. JJ Redick believes it will especially impact their defense though as the Lakers have missed James’ voice.
“Yeah, it’s tough. Both of those guys have been so good for us on that end,” Redick said of James and Hachimura. “Rui kind of just being a connector, just being able to switch everything. And then LeBron, I literally said to him during the San Antonio game during a timeout, I said you know what we miss? We miss your voice on the defensive end. Our communication level has gone down significantly and talk is a contagious thing. When one guy is consistently talking, it forces everybody else to.
“So we miss both of those guys a lot. And then with LeBron obviously, he’s an elite defensive rebounder and can go grab a basketball that’s outside of his space as well as anyone at his position.”
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