The Los Angeles Lakers released their injury report for Sunday night’s home contest against the L.A. Clippers and D’Angelo Russell has been upgraded to questionable while Rui Hachimura remains out.
Additionally, Anthony Davis (left ankle sprain/bone bruise) is probable and LeBron James (left ankle peroneal tendinopathy) is questionable. Both of the Lakers stars have been able to play through their recent ailments though and that should again be the case against the Clippers with the team looking to snap a four-game losing streak.
Hachimura has missed the Lakers’ last two games after suffering a left calf strain just eight minutes into the Dec. 31 contest against the New Orleans Pelicans. After undergoing an MRI, Hachimura was determined to have a Grade 1 calf strain and was considered to be day-to-day.
This season has been a rough one for Hachimura as far as minor injuries go as he has missed a handful of games already. In the 25 games (five starts) he has played, the forward has averaged 11.6 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists while shooting 48.5% from the field and 36.8% from 3-point range.
Lakers head coach Darvin Ham had just inserted Hachimura into the starting lineup before he suffered the calf injury, so it will be interesting to see if he rejoins that group when he’s able to return. That will have to wait at least one more game though.
Meanwhile, Russell has missed the Lakers’ last three games with a tailbone contusion that he suffered while taking a charge in the Dec. 30 game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Russell was actually moved to the bench before getting hurt so likely will resume his bench role when he’s able to play again, which could be on Sunday. The Lakers have missed Russell’s offensive firepower when he’s been out as the point guard is averaging 14.8 points, 2.9 rebounds and 6.1 assists while shooting 46.6% from the field and 38.8% from 3-point range this season.
Anthony Davis emphasizes need for Lakers to stay together
The Lakers have really struggled since winning the In-Season Tournament, losing four straight and 10 of 13 overall. The hope is that getting guys like Russell and Hachimura back will help, but regardless, Davis emphasized the need for the team to stay together to get through this rough patch.
“Stay confident, we got to stay together,” Davis added. “Obviously it’s been a tough stretch for us but we still have a lot of basketball left. But we’re trending in the wrong direction right now. And the last thing we need, especially when guys are out, is to separate and fall apart. So we got to stay together, for sure, and figure it out.
“We can’t be in our feelings. We can’t be complaining or whatever. We can’t take anything personal. We have to look individually, myself, everyone in the locker room, the coaching staff, look at ourselves in the mirror and just figure out what we can do individually better to help the team be better.”
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