Lakers Injury Report: Insider Hints At LA Rotation For Thursday Preseason Finale
Your Los Angeles Lakers sat All-NBA small forward LeBron James, starting shooting guard Austin Reaves, reserve point guard Gabe Vincent, power forward Jarred Vanderbilt (whose status as a starter or backup is up in the air), and rookie shooting guard Jalen Hood-Schifino on Sunday for their 108-97 preseason loss to a Milwaukee Bucks team fielding most of its main rotation (Khris Middleton, dealing with ominously ongoing knee pain, sat). LA's defeat, then, may not have been entirely surprising.
That was the fifth game in the Lakers' jam-packed preseason schedule (the team is now 2-3), while it was just the third for Milwaukee (2-1). Though the preseason ostensibly exists to showcase the game in unique locations (LA played the Sacramento Kings in Anaheim last week, for instance), that could certainly just be done during the regular season. Some clubs also play international teams in these exhibition matchups, and that would be harder to replace. But what's the point of risking injury in games that aren't weighted as part of a regular season schedule, especially to veteran teams with championship aspirations, like, say, your Los Angeles Lakers?
In yet another traditionally non-NBA location, Palm Springs, Los Angeles will face off against another Western Conference hopeful, the star-studded Phoenix Suns, for its merciful preseason finale Thursday night.
Per Mike Trudell of Lakers.com, almost all of the team's full anticipated regular season rotation could see action against the Suns on Thursday, as it looks to wrap up the preseason with a .500 record. Only Jarred Vanderbilt, still dealing with a sore left heel, is expected to sit.
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