The Los Angeles Lakers are coming off a tough, 122-108 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, a game in which they were missing five key rotation players due to injury. The Lakers are set to embark on a brief, two-game road trip this week, and following the loss to the Blazers, head coach JJ Redick was hopeful that reinforcements would be on the way. Sure enough, both Marcus Smart and Jaxson Hayes were upgraded on the team injury report.
Marcus Smart and Jaxson Hayes are officially listed as questionable on the Lakers’ injury report for the first game of their road trip against the Minnesota Timberwolves. A final status update for both players likely won’t come until right before the game. Smart suffered a quad injury during the Lakers’ win against the Sacramento Kings on Sunday, while Hayes sustained a knee injury sometime after the team’s season opener.
In the three games Smart has played in his Lakers debut, he’s averaged 7.7 points, 1.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 steals while shooting 43.8 percent from the field. Hayes has only appeared in one game so far during which he finished with four points, six rebounds and one assist while shooting 66.7 percent from the field
Getting Smart back gives the Lakers an additional ball-handler to help relieve Austin Reaves of some of the playmaking duties, while Hayes gives the team a key backup behind Deandre Ayton.
Against the Blazers, the Lakers just didn’t have enough depth to keep up. But despite the short-handed loss, Redick was pleased by some of what he saw.
“I took a lot away. Again, our half court defense was excellent, first shot defense was excellent,” Redick said. “For the most part. . .just a highly, competitive spirit and connected group. You can build on that.”
The Lakers begin their mini-road trip with a matchup against the Timberwolves on Wednesday, before concluding the trip against the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday.
