All season, it has seemed the Los Angeles Lakers lose one or two players to minor injuries and get them back a few games later only to see one or two other players go down with new injuries.
They have lost 11 of their last 16 games since winning the in-season tournament. With a 19-20 record, they’re 11th in the Western Conference. With each growing day, the chances of them missing the play-in tournament for the second time in three seasons increase.
Every game these days is a virtual must-win game for L.A., including its Saturday contest at the Utah Jazz. The good news is that forward Rui Hachimura, who has missed its last five games with a calf ailment, will be available to play on Saturday.
Even better, Christian Wood, who missed Thursday’s loss to the Phoenix Suns with a migraine, is listed as probable.
Rui Hachimura is off the injury report with his calf strain and is available. D’Angelo Russell and Cam Reddish have both been added to the injury report since the Suns loss and questionable for Saturday in Utah. Christian Wood, who sat out Thursday, has been upgraded to probable. pic.twitter.com/FCHxEmrol1
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) January 13, 2024
Hachimura has been hit harder by injuries than almost any other Lakers player so far this season. He has played in only 25 of the team’s 39 games, but when he has played, he has put up 11.6 points in 23.5 minutes a game.
Wood, meanwhile, has gotten himself back into the Lakers’ rotation and has given the team a lift offensively. His fine play of late has included some red-hot 3-point shooting.