It was a mixture of good news and bad for the Lakers on the injury front on Friday. While LeBron James returned after missing Wednesday’s game, Anthony Davis, D’Angelo Russell and Cam Reddish are all out against the Spurs.
Hours before the game against the Spurs, the Lakers expanded their injury report to include Reddish (right knee soreness) and Russell (migraine). When ruling him out, though, the Lakers indicated Russell had a non-COVID illness.
Taurean Prince was listed as questionable with left knee soreness and Jarred Vanderbilt, who missed time this week with lower back spasms, was listed as probable and both will suit up for the Lakers.
Jalen Hood-Schifino also continues to deal with low back spasms and will be out while Maxwell Lewis is unavailable as he’s on G League assignment. Gabe Vincent remains out with his left knee effusion.
In total, then, the Lakers will be without six players on Friday for various reasons. D’Moi Hodge, Colin Castleton and Alex Fudge, the team’s three two-way signings, are all on the trip with the team, but that does mean only eight players, not counting those on two-way deals, will be available.
The short-handed Lakers did win against the Spurs on Wednesday, though the game got interesting late with the Spurs making a huge fourth-quarter rally. Swapping out AD for LeBron will make for an entirely different game on Friday.
Notably, the Spurs have an 18-game losing streak as they sit at 3-20 on the season coming into the night. Perhaps the Lakers feel a little bit more comfortable resting players against the Spurs, but it certainly makes the game a bit more interesting.
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