The Lakers could be without four starters for Sunday evening’s game against the Clippers at Crypto.com Arena, with LeBron James and Luka Doncic listed as questionable, Austin Reaves as doubtful and Rui Hachimura ruled out.
Doncic is on the injury report due to what the Lakers termed “left calf injury management” while James is on it because of “left foot injury management.”
Doncic suffered a left calf strain on Christmas, then didn’t play again until Feb. 10, eight days after he was acquired by the Lakers from the Dallas Mavericks. He has only missed one game since then, a 110-102 victory at Portland.
James has played in 26 of the Lakers’ past 27 games. He is regularly listed on the injury report with “left foot injury management.”
Doncic scored a game-high 31 points and James added 28 in Friday’s 106-102 victory over the Clippers at Crypto.com Arena.
James enters Sunday’s play 18 points away from becoming the first player in NBA history with a combined 50,000 points in the regular season and playoffs. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is second on the list with 44,149.
Reaves experienced “some tightness” and “some soreness” in his right calf about nine minutes into the first quarter Friday and “was held out as a precaution,” coach JJ Redick said after the game, his most recent meeting with reporters.
Hachimura has patella tendinopathy in his left knee, Redick said. He suffered the injury on a dunk in the third quarter of Thursday’s 111-102 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves and hasn’t played since.
Hachimura will also miss Tuesday’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans and Thursday’s contest against the New York Knicks, and be re-examined before the Lakers begin a four-game road trip Saturday in Boston, Redick said.
Guard Jordan Goodwin is also listed as doubtful with a right ankle sprain suffered in the fourth quarter Friday. Goodwin’s plus-14 point differential Friday was tied for second-best on the Lakers behind forward Jarred Vanderbilt (plus-20). Center Trey Jemison was also at plus-14.
The Clippers have two players on the injury list. Starting forward Derrick Jones Jr. will miss the game due to a right groin strain. Starting guard Norman Powell is listed as probable due to left patellar tendinopathy.
Jones scored eight points while the Clippers outscored the Lakers by 19 in the 28:30 he was on the court Friday for their best plus-minus. Powell hasn’t played since Feb. 13, missing five games.
The teams enter Sunday’s game going in opposite directions.
The Lakers (37-21) have won five consecutive games and 11 of their past 13 to move into third place in the Western Conference, one game behind the second-place Denver Nuggets (39-21).
The Clippers (32-27) have lost four of their last five games, are in sixth in the Western Conference, a half-game ahead of Golden State (32-28) in the race to avoid the play-in tournament.
The is the last of four games between the teams this season. The Lakers lead the series, 2-1.
The Lakers broadcast of the 6:30 p.m. game will be carried by Spectrum SportsNet and the Clippers broadcast on FanDuel Sports Network SoCal.