The Los Angeles Lakers released their injury report for Saturday afternoon’s game against the Indiana Pacers and newly-acquired center Mark Williams (trade pending) is questionable to make his team debut.
Luka Doncic (left calf strain) was officially ruled out, however, which was expected with recent reports indicating he will make his debut on Monday against the Utah Jazz.
Elsewhere on the injury report, LeBron James (left ankle soreness) and Austin Reaves (left elbow contusion) are questionable while Christian Wood (left knee surgery recovery) and Maxi Klever (right foot fracture) remain out.
The Lakers come into this game winners of four straight and eight of their last nine, playing their best basketball of the season. The eventual additions of Williams and Doncic should only help add to that momentum heading into the home stretch of the regular season, giving L.A. some much-needed depth.
It remains to be seen if Williams will play and enter JJ Redick’s starting lineup right away, although that is the outlook long-term for the center. The 23-year-old has some developing to do but is unquestionably a great fit next to Doncic and James as a pick-and-roll lob threat.
Similar to the Lakers, the Pacers come in playing some of their best basketball having won five of their last six. This afternoon game will be televised on ESPN, a change the network made to show Doncic’s debut before it was pushed back to Monday.
Getting to televise Williams’ debut is a nice consolation prize if he is able to play, although the Lakers could be severely shorthanded with the status of James and Reaves also up in the air.
Rob Pelinka believes Mark Williams is ‘perfect’ center for Lakers
At Luka Doncic’s introductory press conference, Rob Pelinka made it clear that the Lakers were looking for a center on the trade market to pair with the superstar. Doing so would not be easy, but Pelinka was eventually able to pull off the deal to acquire Mark Williams from the Charlotte Hornets, who he believes is the perfect center for this team.
“He’s got great hands, catches the ball above the rim, can finish, gives us a defensive paint presence,” Pelinka said. “There’s a lot of teams in the West that have formidable size that are around the standings with us, Memphis and Houston and OKC. And we just felt like we needed to address that, and we felt like we got the perfect guy.”
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