They’ve missed 76 individual player games to injury, including 18 for Rajon Rondo, 17 for LeBron James, seven for Brandon Ingram and four for both Lonzo Ball and Kyle Kuzma. In other words, nearly all of their key players have missed at least one combined week of action. Josh Hart, meanwhile, hasn’t missed any games, but has been dealing with knee tendinitis for much of the month of January.
In related news, the Lakers have gone 6-11 to fall to the No. 9 seed in the West, after starting 20-14 to be slotted in the No. 4 spot.
Ball is the only player who will continue to be out for an extended period of time with the grade three ankle sprain that brought a 4-to-6 week timetable when he hurt it on Jan. 19, and Rondo returned on Jan. 24. That leaves LeBron and Kuzma as the question marks.
Both forwards practiced in full on Wednesday, and Luke Walton gave the latest info on LeBron and the groin strain that’s had him on the shelf since Christmas.
“He looked good today,” said Walton. “He did everything that we had on the schedule. He looked good two days ago in practice (too), so we’ll see how he feels tomorrow. We’ll take it from there. We’ll keep prepping as if he’s not going to play, and hope that he’s healthy enough to start.”
James is listed as “out” on the game notes for Thursday’s contest against the Clippers, though Walton left the door open for this possibility: if James happens to both feel great tomorrow coming off these most recent practices, and get fully cleared by the medical staff, he could play.
“It’s one of those injuries he’s aware of and the trainers are aware of and you don’t mess around with,” Walton explained. “When he and the training staff feel confident that he can go full go and not be a risk of re-hurting himself, then he’ll play.”
Until that happens, be it Thursday, Saturday, or next week, Walton will plan for opponents as if James is out.
Kuzma, meanwhile, has missed the last two games with a hip strain, but showed improvement in Wednesday’s session.
“I’m feeling good,” said Kuz. “My body’s doing better.
But will he play?
“We’ll see,” he responded. “Went through a full practice today, full contact, felt good. We’ll see by game time.”
Kuzma said he felt a stabbing sensation while working out on an off day in Houston prior to Lakers-Rockets on Jan. 19, when he was playing 5-on-5.
“I just felt a random movement where I kind of twisted, and right away I felt like something popped,” he said. “I played in Houston, and kept playing, and it kind of got worse.”
He’ll essentially be a game-time decision for Thursday.
“Kuz did the most he’s done, which is most of practice, and looked much better than he’s looked when he tried to do something yesterday,” summarized Walton.
“I’m moving pretty well,” Kuzma concluded. “Today is the best I’ve felt.”
Josh Hart did not practice on Wednesday, but got treatment after playing 35 minutes against Philly with his sore knee.
“It’s all right,” he said when I asked him how the knee felt after the game. “If I’m good enough to be out there, it’s good. Ain’t no excuses for me.”
Hart’s hasn’t had his typical lift on his 3-point shot of late, and I wondered if the knee pain had contributed to that.
“Look at me December jump shots and then my January jump shots … but like I said, I’m not going to blame nothing on those things,” he answered. “Sometimes it’s tough, sometimes it’s frustrating, but if I’m out there, I’m good.”
In December, Hart shot 38.4 percent from three, backing up his 37.5 percent in November and 40.5 percent in October. That’s consistent with his impressive rookie year percentage of 39.6 percent.
In January, he converted only 23.1 percent from three in 14 games. And January is, of course, when he started to deal with the knee soreness. I asked Walton how that could impact a player’s three-point shooting.
“If you’re bending down to shoot your shot and you’re getting a pain that happens, it can definitely affect it,” he said. “Maybe you’re not getting the same release, the same lift on all of it. I know Josh is tough and he can figure it out and fight through it and knock down shots as well, but that can definitely play a factor in it.”
Expect Hart to play on Thursday against the Clippers, who currently lead the Lakers by two games for the eight seed. We’ll have to wait and see about LeBron and Kuzma.