The Lakers will be forced into yet another starting lineup change on Sunday as Taurean Prince was ruled out early in the day due to left knee soreness. Prince was listed as questionable coming into the game.
In his pregame presser, Darvin Ham spoke about Prince, revealing that this was not a new injury and one that had been nagging him for a while.
Darvin Ham said Taurean Prince has been fighting through the knee pain for a while and the Lakers wanted to give him a night off to try and “calm” it down
— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) January 22, 2024
Lakers coach Darvin Ham said medical staff considers Taurean Prince’s absence to be day-to-day
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) January 22, 2024
Prince has been one of the more durable Lakers this season. He’s tied for second on the team with 41 games played and is fourth on the team in total minutes. Anthony Davis is the only player who has started as many games as Prince.
The Lakers will now have yet another new lineup of some sort on Sunday. The two most likely potential options will be Jarred Vanderbilt and Cam Reddish. The former has really started to look like himself in recent weeks and a move back to the starting lineup could make sense considering the familiarity that lineup has.
Reddish, meanwhile, was a starter before going down with injury. He was listed as probable coming into the game and his return is certainly imminent at the very least.
Ideally, this is a short-term injury because, no matter your thoughts on Prince, the Lakers really need some continuity above about all else.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.