The Lakers will be quite shorthanded on Monday when they take on the tanking Nets in Brooklyn.
The Lakers that take the court in Brooklyn against the Nets on Monday will be quite shorthanded, though the degree to which remains yet to be fully seen.
With LeBron James already out for multiple weeks and Rui Hachimura having not yet returned, the Lakers will also be without Dorian Finney-Smith, who is out with left ankle soreness.
Luka Dončić and Jaxson Hayes are both questionable.
Lakers Injury Report: LeBron James and Dorian Finney-Smith are officially out. Jaxson Hayes has been upgraded to questionable. pic.twitter.com/FJmiOFa4pW
— Edwin Garcia (@ECreates88) March 9, 2025
Luka stated postgame that he had been dealing with back soreness since taking a fall during the Knicks game. At times, it was noticeable against the Celtics that Luka was struggling with back pain.
Hayes missed the game against Boston with his right knee injury. Redick provided an update pregame, stating it’s not a long-term injury.
JJ Redick said Jaxson Hayes’ knee injury isn’t expected to be serious.
“Hopefully he’ll be back soon,” Redick said.
Redick said he won’t share the starting lineup yet.
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) March 9, 2025
Finney-Smith’s absence is new and will necessitate multiple changes to the Lakers’ starting lineup. The length of his absence is entirely up in the air, though more may be known when Redick talks to the media pregame on Monday.
Fortunately, after a spell of winning seven of nine games in February, the Nets have embraced the tank. Brooklyn has lost their last seven games heading into Monday’s contest. The only player of note out for Brooklyn is Cam Thomas, who is dealing with a hamstring injury.
While the Nets are a tanking team, the Lakers are without quite a few players. On top of that, their next game after Monday isn’t until Thursday. If they wanted to head into their toughest week of the season as healthy as possible, they could rest a whole host of players before going to Milwaukee at the end of the week.
That being said, so far this season, the Lakers haven’t really punted a game this season. If there was a time to do it, Monday might be the one to do it.
Regardless of if they punt the game or not, it’s going to be a very shorthanded team playing on Monday.
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