Rui Hachimura exits game vs. Wolves with left knee strain

The Lakers lost forward Rui Hachimura to a left knee strain during the second half of Thursday’s game against the Wolves.

Few players on the Lakers have been playing as well as Rui Hachimura of late. Since the arrival of Luka Dončić, and even some time before that, Hachimura has flourished.

However, that momentum could unfortunately be halted. Early in the third quarter on Thursday, Rui finished off a fastbreak with a dunk but immediately began limping.

While the Wolves called a timeout after the play, Hachimura went straight to the locker room. At the end of the third, the Lakers officially ruled him out with a knee strain.

After the game, head coach JJ Redick had no more insight into the injury and wouldn’t speculate about it either.

Rui has only missed two games since Thanksgiving and has been one of the mainstays in the starting lineup throughout the season. While there is an obvious replacement in the lineup for him if he were to miss time in Dorian Finney-Smith, he’s still been a valuable and impactful piece.

Any time without him would be less than ideal.

The Lakers are also heading into a tough stretch of their schedule as they’re set to play six games over eight days in mid-March. Even before then, the schedule gets tough for the purple and gold.

In the immediate future, the Lakers play the Clippers on both Friday and Sunday and then the Pelicans on Tuesday. All of those games are at home.

Having Rui available for that stretch would be preferred, to say the least. But having him healthy at season’s end is the biggest priority, obviously.

This story will be updated postgame as more information is known.

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