The Los Angeles Lakers were the healthiest they had been all season, although that of course was short-lived as Rui Hachimura went down with a left knee strain in the team’s win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday. He was then ruled out for Friday night’s game against the L.A. Clippers given the short turnaround.
While Hachimura still has more tests to get done, it appears he has avoided serious injury as Lakers head coach JJ Redick expressed optimism he won’t miss too much time.
“Still getting more information. We’re optimistic this is not a serious injury,” Redick said before the game against the Clippers. “But we’re still not quite clear on when he will be available to play. But we’re optimistic.”
Redick further expanded on what Hachimura still needs to get done to determine the full extent of the injury.
“I believe he’s had some imaging done,” Redick added. “Again, we’re optimistic this is not a serious injury. We’re just trying to gather all information. He hasn’t been examined by Dr. Jones yet. Once that happens, we’ll have a full update.”
Redick then revealed after the game that Hachimura was diagnosed with patella tendinopathy and will be re-evaluated in one week, meaning he will miss a few games.
Hachimura has been playing some of his best basketball in recent weeks, and Redick knows that won’t be easy for the Lakers to replace while he is out.
“(We miss) 34 minutes of playing time of a guy who plays really well on both ends and has done a really good job of executing our schemes defensively. I think his ability to space, crash, punish smaller defenders, cut. We’re gonna miss him on both ends of the floor.”
JJ Redick praises Rui Hachimura for performance against Nuggets
One of Rui Hachimura’s best games of the season came last weekend against the Denver Nuggets as he was getting it done on both ends of the floor. He played quality defense on Nikola Jokic, earning praise from Lakers head coach JJ Redick after the win.
“[Jokic] leads the NBA in touches,” Redick said following L.A.’s 123-100 win. “He’s gonna touch the ball. We tried to limit his touches as much as possible. I thought Rui was outstanding. He was a warrior tonight. A warrior. And all the guys that had primary turns on [Jokic], LeBron at one point, Vando for sure setting the tone with his physicality, Doe as well. And anytime a small got switched on, we just stuck with what we were trying to do and had to live with some things. But that’s what we were willing to live with.”
Hachimura has been effectively guarding centers a lot lately, playing a big part in the Lakers having the best defense in the NBA since January.
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