The Los Angeles Lakers could miss their top two stars when they continue their four-game road trip on Monday, March 10 in Brooklyn against the Nets.
As expected, LeBron James is out with a left groin strain. But Luka Dončić is a surprise name on the Lakers’ official injury report.
The Slovenian star is questionable to play due to back soreness.
The ABC broadcast showed Dončić stretching his back at one point during their crushing 111-101 loss to their arch-rival Boston Celtics but he downplayed it during his postgame press conference.
“It’s something I’m dealing with, but I’m fine,” Dončić told reporters.
If Dončić will join James at the sidelines, the Lakers will have to bank on Austin Reaves, who will be playing his third game since coming back from a calf injury.
Reaves will face his former Lakers backcourt mate D’Angelo Russell, who is averaging 14.1 points, 5.7 assists and 2.8 rebounds.
Meanwhile, Dorian Finney-Smith will miss his first game back in Brooklyn since he was traded to the Lakers with left ankle soreness.
Finney-Smith joins James, Rui Hachimura (left patellar tendinopathy) and Maxi Kleber (right foot surgery recovery) in the expanding list of injured players for the Lakers.
Starting center Jaxson Hayes is also questionable to play with a right knee contusion that also kept him out in Boston.
LeBron James Out 1-2 Weeks
According to ESPN’s Shams Charania, James is expected to miss at least one to two weeks with his groin injury.
“Typically with this soft tissue injury, it leads to weeks-long of absences and could be potentially an extended period of time for LeBron James. He will be evaluated in the next 24 hours, but unlike in 2018 when he had that groin tear, I’m told he did not hear a pop last night in Boston,” Charania said on “NBA Countdown” on ABC.
The 40-year-old James left the game with 6:44 remaining in the fourth quarter and did not return.
“The last score I had on Jaylen Brown, I know I overextended a little bit, a couple pivots and then when I landed, I felt it,” James told reporters about the moment he knew he sustained the injury.
James previously had the same injury which led to a 17-game absence during the 2018-19 season, his first year with the Lakers. The Lakers were fourth in the Western Conference at the time of James’ first groin injury. Without him, a young Lakers team back then went 5-12 and ultimately fell out of contention for the playoffs.
But James is confident that this time, his groin injury “isn’t as bad” as the first one. Unlike in 2018, the Lakers have Dončić and Reaves to count on to cushion the impact of James’ long absence.
James is the Lakers’ leading scorer (25.0 points), rebounder (8.2 rebounds) and playmaker (8.5 assists).
Rui Hachimura Ramping Up
Hachimura’s return is getting closer, according to Lakers coach JJ Redick.
“He’s doing well, ramping up some on-court stuff. I’ll have an update probably in a week for you,” Redick told reporters, per Lakers sideline reporter Mike Trudell, before their loss to the Celtics.
Monday’s matchup against the Nets will be the sixth game Hachimura will miss since sustaining the injury on Feb. 27 during their 111-102 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Hachimura was averaging 13.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game on 50.6% shooting from the field before his injury.
