Lakers Injury Report: LA May Face Bulls Without Anthony Davis, LeBron James

Not what you want.

It's a battle of mediocre No. 9 seeds tonight, as your Los Angeles Lakers will hope to fend off the visiting Chicago Bulls at Crypto.com Arena.

But LA may be doing it without its two best players.

According to a recent NBA injury report, All-Star Lakers center Anthony Davis is questionable to suit up with a bilateral Achilles tendinopathy, while All-NBA forward LeBron James is considered questionable to play through the left ankle peroneal tendinopathy that kept him shelved for Tuesday's loss against the LA Clippers.

LA will be without the services of second round rookie draft pick Maxwell Lewis out of Pepperdine, who is dealing with a non-COVID-19 illness, while Cam Reddish (right ankle sprain) and Gabe Vincent (left knee effusion surgery recovery) remain sidelined.

Chicago, however, will be missing a significant supply of well-compensated contributors tonight. Assuming at least Davis can play, the Lakers should have enough weapons to pull off the win at home, where they're currently 16-8 on the year (LA is 22-23 overall).

Missing both stars may prove a fatal blow. If Davis can't play, Darvin Ham could consider starting power forward/center Christian Wood, a great shooter but a poor defender, or perhaps power forward Rui Hachimura at small-ball center, who's had some surprising success at the position. Hachimura also seems like the most sensible starting option if James remains on the shelf. To wit, the 6'8" Gonzaga product scored 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting from the floor, while starting in James' stead, during the Clippers defeat. If he is moved to center, Jarred Vanderbilt makes sense as the fit at power forward, especially with Reddish on the shelf.