INGLEWOOD — The Lakers were without three of their normal starters for Saturday night’s road game against the Clippers, but they hope to have two of them back in the lineup as soon as Tuesday’s matchup against the Phoenix Suns in Arizona.
Starting guard Austin Reaves (left calf strain), center Deandre Ayton (left elbow soreness) and forward Rui Hachimura (right groin soreness) were all unavailable on Saturday night.
Reserve guard Gabe Vincent also missed his second game because of lower back tightness.
Marcus Smart, Jake LaRavia and Jaxson Hayes started alongside Luka Doncic and LeBron James for the Lakers on Saturday in light of the injuries.
Coach JJ Redick said the hope is for Reaves and Ayton to be available against the Suns, while the team is hoping Hachimura’s ailment will only keep him sidelined for 3-5 days.
After their matchup against the Suns, the Lakers will host the Houston Rockets on Thursday in a Christmas Day matchup.
Reaves’ absence on Saturday was the third consecutive game he missed because of the calf ailment, while Ayton has missed a pair of games.
Ayton suffered his injury after getting tangled up with Suns center Mark Williams during last Sunday’s road win in Phoenix.
Redick also acknowledged the uncertainty of the timelines for when players might return.
“I never know with these guys, I never know,” he said. “It’s hard to commit to timelines here. A guy wakes up and says, ‘Ah, something’s wrong with me.’ That’s, we got to deal with it. I don’t know, but we hope to have them back soon.
“D.A., Austin, progressing. Hope to have them back soon and then Rui, it’s a new issue that popped up post-Utah game and we’re targeting, or we’re saying it’s 3-5 days.”
IMPACT ON MARGINS
In his previous two games since being back in the rotation, forward Jarred Vanderbilt grabbed 18 rebounds, including 11 on the offensive glass, in 40 minutes.
Vanderbilt acknowledged his presence on the glass has been a priority since playing regular minutes again.
“That’s something I can bring to the table every single night, especially some games (when) we’re not shooting well,” Vanderbilt said. “So it’s a lot more opportunities for offensive rebounds. We’re trying to win that possession battle. If we’re not having a great shooting night, I think having multiple efforts and being able to get more opportunities up on the glass and offensive rebound is gonna just better our chances.”
Vanderbilt’s presence has helped the Lakers have two of their best offensive rebounding games of the season as they focus on winning the margins they typically struggle with.
Despite the ways teams defend Vanderbilt, having the player defending him sag off into the paint and clog up driving/passing lanes, the Lakers have a similar offensive rating (points scored per 100 possessions) with Vanderbilt on the court (118.9) versus when he’s off the court (120.6), according to Cleaning The Glass.
“Over the last couple of games, it’s been the second-effort stuff, the offensive rebounds, giving us more opportunities to score, being decisive when he does get the ball,” Redick said. “We’ve got to play a little bit differently. Post facing, using him as a passer.
“But I do think we’ve had a number of defense-to-offense plays with him on the floor and with that group that started the second and fourth quarter of the last couple of games. And that’s really helped the offense without having to run a play and all that stuff.”