The Los Angeles Lakers released their injury report for Monday’s Game 5 against the Denver Nuggets in their first round series and forward Jarred Vanderbilt (right midfoot sprain) was upgraded to questionable for the first time.
Additionally, LeBron James (left ankle peroneal tendinopathy) and Anthony Davis (left wrist sprain) are listed as probable although neither star is in danger of missing a game of this magnitude with the Lakers facing a win-or-go-home scenario.
Vanderbilt has missed the last two-plus months with the foot injury and seemed to be trending towards a return in the last couple weeks although was unable to in the first four games of this series. With the Lakers winning Game 4 to extend the series though, it now appears the defensive-minded forward could be able to return in Denver on Monday night.
The Lakers certainly can use Vanderbilt if he is healthy, although after missing so much time, it may not be wise to throw him right into the fire in a must-win game given the stakes. Vanderbilt is not known for his offense and will likely be out of rhythm after missing so much time.
The same was said for Christian Wood, who returned from a knee injury in Game 4 but did not make it into the contest. He is off the injury report fully now, so head coach Darvin Ham has both Wood and Vanderbilt as options if he would like to go to them.
On the Nuggets side of things, star point guard Jamal Murray’s status is in jeopardy after injuring his calf in Game 4. He is listed as questionable with a left calf strain although surely will do whatever he can to be on the floor at home in a closeout game opportunity.
LeBron James: Jarred Vanderbilt’s return would bring energy to Lakers
LeBron James is known to be one of Jarred Vanderbilt’s biggest fans since he joined the Lakers, and he recently discussed what he would bring to the team if the forward is able to return during the Nuggets series or sometime during the postseason.
“Energy,” James said. “Super high energetic, defensively, some of the things he brings to our team, you don’t even teach. You just allow him to go out there and just be Vando. We don’t know for sure that we’re getting him back, we don’t know, we’ve only seen a couple reports. But he knows his body better than anybody.”
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