The Lakers know that LeBron James won’t be able to play for at least a week, and probably longer, due to a groin strain. How will they survive the upcoming stretch of games without him?
“I think we just have to continue to play hard and play defense,” coach JJ Redick said, per Jovan Buha of The Athletic.
The Lakers have been the No. 1 ranked defense in the league since mid-January. They’re confident they can collects wins despite the future Hall of Famer’s absence.
“We’ve had many situations where a player deals with some type of injury or a trade or whatever it is, and we’ve done a really good job of bouncing back,” guard Austin Reaves said. “And I don’t expect anything else. It’s a next-man-up mentality. Not one person’s gonna do what LeBron does for us. But you can do it as a collective. And … hopefully, he gets back out on the court soon.”
As Buha notes, they have a rugged stretch of games upcoming. The Lakers finish their road trip in Brooklyn on Monday, and then play Milwaukee on Thursday and Denver on Friday. They also have home back-to-backs against Phoenix and San Antonio, as well as Denver and Milwaukee, in the next two weeks.
We have more on the Lakers:
- James believes that being at full strength for the postseason supersedes anything else at this point, Buha relays. “We can compete versus anyone in this league,” James said. “So, we’ll be fine. We got to continue to build our habits. … We made an acquisition late in the season, and we’re still trying to build. And we want to get full. That’s the No. 1 objective for us: How we can get full and get all our guys together and see exactly what we look like.”
- James and Rui Hachimura (knee) are among the players listed as out for the matchup with the Nets, Khobi Price of the Orange County Register tweets. Luka Doncic (back soreness) and Jaxson Hayes (right knee contusion} are listed as questionable.
- Hachimura, who has missed five consecutive games, is making progress from the patellar tendinopathy affecting his left knee. Get the details here.
Timing couldn’t be worse. They have so little time left to gel.
It’s a real kick in the groin lmao
Lakers are scary good after weeks together…
They need chemistry and time on court is the best way to get that…
AR is a great 3rd option and would be the 2nd best player on any other team in that division…
They have had the best opponent 3pt shooting luck through that whole run. They are giving up like 28% on wide open 3s and have no rim protector on the roster. The defense is such helium watch and I straight dont believe Bron can keep the effort up at this level for a sustained period. Bron hasnt worked this hard on defense since like 2013.
Defense looks season long viable it’s the offense that is in question imo
Lebron being able to maintain intensity is viable concern
If the Lakers split the 4 games they have against the Bucks and Nuggets they will be ok. The other teams they play the next two weeks are beatable.
It’s almost like the lakers actually beat Boston. It’s almost like that regular season loss didn’t even happen. ESPN aren’t going to be happy with this, lol.
It’s almost like you should punch yourself in the face, just to see if there’s still a pulse.
It’s almost like the lakers should take their championships from another city with them. I mean, nobody else is allowed but hey…you keep fighting the good fight sheep. You’ll be able to think for yourself one day pal.