The Lakers may need 60 points from Austin Reaves on Monday to earn back-to-back wins.
After heading into Sunday’s game shorthanded with injuries piling up, the Lakers saw Gabe Vincent exit with a sprained
ankle during the second half. On Monday afternoon, they released their injury report for their game against the Blazers and not only was Vincent on the injury report, but so was Marcus Smart.
Late in Sunday’s game, Smart briefly went to the bench and had the trainer look at his knee or leg before he went to the tunnel to stay warm on the exercise bike. He returned to the game after that, so the hope is this injury isn’t serious.
This leaves the Lakers without much wiggle room and only seven full-time players on the roster for the game: Austin Reaves, Bronny James, Dalton Knecht, Jake LaRavia, Jarred Vanderbilt, Rui Hachimura and Deandre Ayton. They do have all three two-way players available in Chris Mañon, who made his NBA debut on Sunday, Christian Koloko and Nick Smith Jr.
It feels like a given that at least one of the guards in Mañon or Smith will play. The Lakers have been going small during Jaxson Hayes’ recent absence, but with only four forwards available now and Smart, who can guard up in positions, unavailable, they could turn to Koloko for a more traditional lineup.
No matter who is available, it’s going to be a mix-and-match type of night with lineups that never have, and maybe never again will, played together and groups that are going to struggle. The hope is that someone has a big night scoring the ball and the Lakers are able to steal another win, but the deck is stacked against them.
Just know that if you’re a fan going to the game, wear a Lakers jersey and you might be subbed into the game at some point.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.
