According to a tweet this afternoon from Mike Trudell of Spectrum SportsNet, Los Angeles Lakers head coach Luke Walton said that rookie point guard Lonzo Ball and rising star forward Brandon Ingram will both likely be inactive for Friday night's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Ball has missed the Lakers' last four games due to a bruised left knee, while Ingram has missed the team's previous three games because of a concussion he suffered against the Milwaukee Bucks late in the game.

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This really shouldn't come as much of a surprise, as the Lakers organization has played it very safe all season when it comes to injuries and their young core players. In all honesty, the team might end up shutting both Ball and Ingram down for the rest of the season since the Lakers (34-44) are officially out of the Western Conference playoff race.

With Ball out of the lineup, expect to see guard Alex Caruso back in the starting lineup with guard Tyler Ennis logging a good chunk of minutes on Friday night, as well.

The Lakers are fresh off of an impressive 122-112 overtime victory on Wednesday night over the San Antonio Spurs, who are in the thick of a wild Western Conference playoff shuffle with just three games remaining on their regular season schedule. Los Angeles rising star rookie forward Kyle Kuzma's 30-point performance led the way for the Lakers over the Spurs, while shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope added 21 points (7-of-9 shooting from the field) to go along with six assists and six rebounds on the night.