The Lakers know that LeBron James won’t be able to play for at least a week, and probably longer than that, due to a groin strain. How will they survive the upcoming stretch of games without him?
“I think we just have to continue to play hard and play defense,” coach JJ Redick said, per Jovan Buha of The Athletic.
The Lakers have been the No. 1 ranked defense in the league since mid-January. They’re confident they can collects wins despite the future Hall of Famer’s absence.
“We’ve had many situations where a player deals with some type of injury or a trade or whatever it is, and we’ve done a really good job of bouncing back,” guard Austin Reaves said. “And I don’t expect anything else. It’s a next-man-up mentality. Not one person’s gonna do what LeBron does for us. But you can do it as a collective. And … hopefully, he gets back out on the court soon.”
As Buha notes, the Lakers have a rugged stretch of games upcoming. They’ll play in Brooklyn on Monday, then finish their road trip by playing in Milwaukee on Thursday and Denver on Friday. They also have a pair of home back-to-backs (four games in five days) against Phoenix/San Antonio and Denver and Milwaukee within the next two weeks.
We have more on the Lakers:
- James believes that being at full strength for the postseason supersedes anything else at this point, Buha relays. “We can compete versus anyone in this league,” James said. “So, we’ll be fine. We got to continue to build our habits. … We made an acquisition late in the season, and we’re still trying to build. And we want to get full. That’s the No. 1 objective for us: How we can get full and get all our guys together and see exactly what we look like.”
- James and Rui Hachimura (knee) are among the players listed as out for the matchup with the Nets, Khobi Price of the Orange County Register tweets. Luka Doncic (back soreness) and Jaxson Hayes (right knee contusion} are listed as questionable.
- Hachimura, who has missed five consecutive games, is making progress from the patellar tendinopathy affecting his left knee. Get the details here.
Timing couldn’t be worse. They have so little time left to gel.
It’s a real kick in the groin lmao
LeBron getting some rest before the post-season. I know the injury is legit, but don’t be surprised to see him take his time returning.
Lakers are scary good after weeks together…
They need chemistry and time on court is the best way to get that…
AR is a great 3rd option and would be the 2nd best player on any other team in that division…
They have had the best opponent 3pt shooting luck through that whole run. They are giving up like 28% on wide open 3s and have no rim protector on the roster. The defense is such helium watch and I straight dont believe Bron can keep the effort up at this level for a sustained period. Bron hasnt worked this hard on defense since like 2013.
Defense looks season long viable it’s the offense that is in question imo
Lebron being able to maintain intensity is viable concern
Reaves isn’t better than Butler, Harden, Booker/KD (whoever u think is worse) or Lavine. Good player tho
Butler isn’t better than Booker/KD
LaVine’s defence makes it a coin flip who’d I’d rather on talent… Lavine easily for culture and future reasons…
Regardless, what I’m saying is that all those guys are better than Reaves. So I don’t see how he’d be the 2nd best on any of those teams
All those guys are better than Butler…
Because Reaves is better than Butler…
Lol. Whatever helps u sleep at night man
Butler sure impacts winning more than those 2 Suns…
If the Lakers split the 4 games they have against the Bucks and Nuggets they will be ok. The other teams they play the next two weeks are beatable.
It’s almost like the lakers actually beat Boston. It’s almost like that regular season loss didn’t even happen. ESPN aren’t going to be happy with this, lol.
It’s almost like you should punch yourself in the face, just to see if there’s still a pulse.
It’s almost like the lakers should take their championships from another city with them. I mean, nobody else is allowed but hey…you keep fighting the good fight sheep. You’ll be able to think for yourself one day pal.
The media keeps regurgitating the “Lakers have been the No. 1 ranked defense in the league since mid-January” thing, which if January 15th is used as “mid” includes 7 games AD played in( and 0 with Luka).
As far as this injury, is he even going to get an MRI?
They also have the No. 1 defense since January 29, the day after Davis got hurt. Their defensive rating since then has actually been better than it was between Jan. 15-28 with Davis playing.
That’s ok, as the LA Fakers can call up wonder kid Bronny from the G league. He’s the answer to everything
Injury must’ve occurred when Tatum maliciously fouled LeBron on his way to a basket. When LeBron flopped, I mean hit the floor, it looked terribly painful.