The Los Angeles Lakers released their injury report for Thursday night’s game against the Phoenix Suns and forward Rui Hachimura (left calf strain) is doubtful once again while Cam Reddish (facial laceration) is out.
Additionally, Anthony Davis (left ankle sprain/bone bruise) is probable and LeBron James (left ankle peroneal tendinopathy) is questionable. Both Lakers stars have been on the status report for a while with their respective injuries although haven’t missed any games.
Meanwhile, Reddish suffered the facial laceration during Tuesday night’s win over the Toronto Raptors after being elbowed in the face by Immanuel Quickley. After being able to shoot the flagrant free throws, Reddish went back to the locker room and did not return to the game.
Overall in 31 games (24 starts) this season, Reddish has averaged 6.9 points, 2.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 1.3 steals while shooting 34.5% from 3-point range.
Hachimura now looks likely to miss his fifth straight game after suffering the calf injury in the Dec. 31 contest against the New Orleans Pelicans. He was determined to have a Grade 1 calf strain and was considered to be day-to-day.
Darvin Ham provided another update on Hachimura on Tuesday and was optimistic that he would be returning soon, which likely won’t come on Thursday.
“Hopefully, we’ll see,” Ham said. “We’ll take it day by day and see how he feels tonight and when he wakes up in the morning, go through the process and see where it lands.”
Similar to Reddish, this season has been filled with minor injuries for Hachimura. In addition to this calf issue, he has also dealt with a broken nose and a concussion. He has played in 25 of the Lakers’ 38 games so far, averaging 11.6 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists while shooting 48.5% from the field and 36.8% from 3-point range.
LeBron James praises Cam Reddish for performance in Lakers win over Raptors
Before getting elbowed in the face, Reddish was having one of his better games of the season against Toronto as he had 13 points on 4-of-6 shooting from deep.
After the win, James explained why Reddish was able to contribute so much offensively.
“I think he was always ready offensively,” James said. “I think he had one miscue where he kind of bubbled a ball, whatever the case may be, but he was very shot-aggressive. I feel like teams kind of try to force him to make shots or want to force him to shoot, and there’s times where he’s in between, and I thought tonight when the ball found his hands, pretty much he was ready to let it go. Obviously, defensively he’s always great.”
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