The Los Angeles Lakers announced Jaxson Hayes is ruled out for the remainder of the game against the Utah Jazz due to a facial contusion.
Hayes took a shot to the face in the first quarter and went back to the locker room. It appears the injury was serious enough to rule him out, though the team has generally operated cautiously with players.
Without Hayes, the Lakers found themselves even more shorthanded in the front court as Dorian Finney-Smith was ruled out prior to the contest. Head coach JJ Redick opted to start newly-signed big man Alex Len to begin the second half.
Before exiting the game, Hayes was 2-of-2 from the field for four points to go along with two rebounds and one assist. His first bucket of the game was a highlight as he rumbled down the lane for a poster dunk over Walker Kessler.
While the injury doesn’t appear to be serious, Los Angeles missed his presence on the floor as a rim runner and lob threat on the pick and roll. Redick turned to Christian Koloko and Len to replace him, though neither was very effective offensively.
Hayes had been playing much better basketball as of late and already established some rapport with Luka Doncic, so his absence put the Lakers in an unfortunate bind. Defensively, Hayes is able to switch onto smaller players so this was another area he was missed.
Koloko and Len might be serviceable bodies to throw at teams, but Redick would be better off utilizing the small-ball lineups that have turned the team’s fortunes around in the past couple of weeks.
Fortunately for Hayes and the Lakers, he should have plenty of time to recover during the All-Star break and get back in the lineup.
Jaxson Hayes calls it extremely fun to play with Luka Doncic
Jaxson Hayes has a simple job in Los Angeles as a lob threat, so it’s no surprise he called it extremely fun to play alongside Luka Doncic as the star guard loves to find teammates for easy baskets.
“It was extremely fun tonight,” Hayes said after the victory. “Shoot, Bron had a few lobs. Luka had a few lobs. … I mean, it’s just fun. Like, I feel like the way we’ve been playing, or the whole team’s been playing, that either ball just been moving, and I feel like that’s just joyful basketball. Everyone’s getting to touch, everyone’s getting shots.”
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