The Los Angeles Lakers released an update to their injury report for Sunday night’s game against the Toronto Raptors, with LeBron James (left foot joint arthritis and right sciatica) and Luka Doncic (left groin soreness) upgraded from questionable to available.
In addition, Austin Reaves (left calf strain) and rookie Adou Thiero (right MCL sprain) are out. Those two are not surprising due to them dealing with longer-term injuries.
However, having James and Doncic back together as a duo is significant along with welcoming back their center depth in Deandre Ayton and Jaxson Hayes. In the loss on Saturday to the Portland Trail Blazers, L.A. lacked significant firepower and any resemblance of rim deterrence and rebounding.
While the Lakers put up a considerable fight despite being shorthanded, it caught up to them eventually. Seeing how James suited up in the previous back-to-back, it is encouraging to see his body holding up and feeling well enough to play. This will be the fifth game in the last seven days for the Lakers and James will have played in all of them.
Seeing how the Lakers have struggled to stay healthy, head coach JJ Redick needs to be methodical with how he manages his players, especially on back-to-backs. It would be easy to overwork his stars, but there needs to be a cautious approach to keep them healthy through a long season.
Before embarking on an eight game road trip, picking up a win against Toronto would boost morale as every win matters at this point with the team scuffling. The Raptors are dealing with injuries of their own with RJ Barrett out with an ankle sprain, Jakob Poeltl with a lower back strain and Ja’Kobe Walter with a right hip pointer, among others.
On the other hand, Brandon Ingram and Scottie Barnes present a challenge and they gave L.A. a run for their money in their first meeting in Canada. Barnes had a near triple double with 23 points, 11 rebounds and 9 assists, while Ingram chipped in 20 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
Hopefully, welcoming back three starters and having James suiting up for a second consecutive night can result in a more inspired performance than what has been shown as of late.
LeBron James: Lakers must ‘right the ship’ while waiting to get healthy
Every team deals with injuries and how they maneuver them can be completely different. To begin this year, the Lakers exceeded expectations and now they have come back down to earth.
In what feels like a revolving door of injuries to key players, L.A. has struggled to keep their heads above water. However, no one will feel sorry for them and James knows that they have to ‘right the ship’ until they’re whole again.
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