Lakers expecting healthy Doncic, Reaves, Ayton Friday vs. Clippers
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. –The Los Angeles Lakers anticipate to be totally healthy for the primary time in current reminiscence once they return from the All-Star break.
NBA scoring chief Luka Doncic mentioned Thursday that he’ll “probably” return to the courtroom after lacking the Lakers’ last 4 video games earlier than the break with a light hamstring pressure.
Austin Reaves additionally will now not be on his minutes restriction stemming from a five-week absence with a calf damage, coach JJ Redick mentioned after follow on the Lakers’ coaching advanced.
LeBron Jameswho went into the break by turning into the oldest participant to file a triple-double, can also be anticipated to be uniform when the Lakers host the Clippers. That means the Lakers’ three finest gamers ought to all go well with up collectively for less than the eleventh time in 55 video games this season.
“It’s funny, we were talking before the season about building continuity with those three guys, and we’ve had them available together for 10 games,” Redick mentioned. “It’s just the situation we’re in. We’re not the only team that has had a bunch of health issues throughout the season and had to manage that, but my message to the players this morning was that this is going to be a sprint for these last 28 games.”
The Lakers haven’t any consecutive days off between the All-Star break and March 28-29, so Redick hopes his group will seize the chance introduced by full well being out of the break to stack some wins within the aggressive Western Conference. Los Angeles (33-21) entered the break in fifth place within the West regardless of the prolonged absences of Reaves and James, who has missed 18 video games this season.
Starting heart Deandre Ayton additionally is anticipated to be again for the Lakers after a sore proper knee saved him out earlier than the break
Doncic hasn’t performed for the Lakers since Feb. 5. He suited up for the World group on the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday however performed solely the primary 5 minutes of the primary mini-game earlier than sitting out the remainder of the afternoon.
“I was on minutes restriction,” he mentioned with a smile. “It was definitely good to get up and down a little bit [at practice] after having a week off.”
Reaves’ return to full energy could possibly be an unlimited increase to the Lakers, who have not had their No. 3 choice at full energy since he strained his calf on Christmas. He was the NBA’s ninth-leading scorer at 27.8 factors per recreation earlier than his damage.
Reaves mentioned the full-strength Lakers have the potential “to win a lot of games. You can tell throughout the season, even with the unfortunate injuries, we’ve done a good job maintaining it. We’re on pace for a good record, and getting healthy is going to help that. It’ll be fun to see what that looks like.”
