NEW YORK — The Lakers will be without multiple frontcourt players for tonight’s road game against the Brooklyn Nets.
In addition to four-time league MVP LeBron James (left groin strained), forward Rui Hachimura (left patellar tendinopathy) and forward Dorian Finney-Smith (left ankle soreness), center Jaxson Hayes (right knee contusion) also wasn’t available on Monday. Hayes was ruled out 12 hours before tipoff after entering Monday as questionable.
It’s the second consecutive game that Hayes has sat out because of the bruised knee. He also missed Saturday night’s road loss to the Boston Celtics.
Coach JJ Redick said before the game that Hayes remains day-to-day.
James injured his groin midway through the fourth quarter of Saturday’s loss to the Celtics, which ended the Lakers’ season-best winning streak at eight games.
He didn’t play in the final 6:44, signaling to the bench to be taken out of the game and attempting to stretch the groin out before being ruled out for the remainder of the game. He’s expected to be sidelined for at least one to two weeks.
Redick said he hadn’t gotten any clarity on James’ status moving forward, adding, “I think he’s still being evaluated to some degree.”
ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reported on a Monday edition of ESPN’s SportsCenter that the team’s training staff is allowing for James’ groin injury to “calm down” before further evaluating the injury – which would allow for a treatment plan and recovery schedule to be determined.
Hachimura, who missed his sixth consecutive game, will be reevaluated by early next week.
Finney-Smith dealt with left ankle/calf issues while playing for the Nets earlier in the season before being traded to the Lakers in late December. He missed the Lakers’ final game before the All-Star break, a road loss to the Utah Jazz on Feb. 12, because of left ankle soreness.
Redick said Finney-Smith’s absence was the team simply managing his ankle. The Lakers conclude their four-game trip with a back-to-back set against the Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday and the Denver Nuggets on Friday.
REFLECTING
When looking back to Saturday’s loss to the Celtics, Redick said that there was too much offensive “unorganization” during the second and third quarters – an issue he took accountability for.
“We don’t always know how things get lost in translation,” Redick said. “But when they do, it’s [often] the fault of the communicator. So we got to make sure that we know what we’re supposed to be doing offensively.”
Redick added: “Guys not being in the right spots, guys not getting the right spots quick enough. Can’t do that against a top-five defense.”
Redick elaborated further on how he views offensive organization and how he judges whether the Lakers are organized.
“It’s different every game,” he said. “A lot of times, it’s dependent upon what type of coverage we’re gonna face. You build your offensive package around that. Where I’m excited, talking with the staff, we’ve got some good off-ball stuff, some good movement stuff, and we’ve had a lot of success, whether it’s been [Austin Reaves] coming off, LeBron coming off, Luka coming off.
“And similar to what we’ve done throughout the year, is just kind of now making it a play and making it not an [after timeout play]. We’ll hopefully have some off-ball stuff in just for when we get a little bogged down. But the biggest thing for organization, it’s really just knowing who and what we’re trying to attack and then the rest of the guys being in the right spots, particularly against switching defenses.”
Originally Published:
