The Los Angeles Lakers announced that center Jaxson Hayes was ruled out of the second half of Sunday afternoon’s game against the Boston Celtics with a right ankle injury.
It’s unclear when exactly Hayes got injured, but he played five minutes in the first half before being ruled out, finishing with two points and one rebound.
The Lakers had just gotten fully healthy for the first time all season, so this injury comes at an unfortunate time as they were looking to build some continuity.
It remains to be seen how much time Hayes will miss, if any, but Deandre Ayton and Maxi Kleber should get a majority of the center minutes in his absence. JJ Redick could also opt to go small at times.
Hayes is the Lakers’ main lob threat and has brought quality energy off the bench all season, so hopefully this ankle injury is a minor one and he will be back shortly.
LeBron James discusses keys for Lakers offensively
If the Lakers are going to make a run in the second half of the season then they will be relying on their offense, and LeBron James recently discussed keys for them on that side of the ball.
“When we sharing the ball and we’re moving the ball and we have 25-plus assists in the game, we’re a pretty good team,” James said. “We want to try to aim for everyone, everybody to feel involved. I thought Smart, stay ready. I thought he was a true professional. You know, didn’t shoot the ball at all pretty much throughout the first three quarters and then in the fourth quarter, hit big time shots for us.
“So, offensively, we just want to, we try to have low turnover games. Which we we got to continue to be better at that. Not turning the ball over and giving teams pick 6s, but then just everybody feeling the ball, getting the ball moving. So obviously, it starts with Luka and myself and AR, we are the primary ball handlers, and getting everybody involved and not turning the ball over as much. So it was good offensive display for us.”
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