Lakers Injury Report: Los Angeles Starter Downgraded As Denver Awaits

To be fair, he was bad against the Nuggets in the playoffs.

Just a few days after undergoing some kind of mystery injury treatment, Los Angeles Lakers starting point guard D'Angelo Russell may have to sit out tonight's bout against the visiting 36-16 Denver Nuggets.

The Athletic's Jovan Buha reports that the 6'3" vet out of OSU has seen his health status bumped down to merely questionable for the 27-25 Lakers' bid to protect homecourt against the reigning champions, due to a sore left knee.

D’Angelo Russell (left knee soreness) has been downgraded to questionable for tonight’s game vs. Denver.

— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) February 9, 2024

If Russell can't suit up, head coach Darvin Ham has a few options for a replacement. He could shift a bigger starter with solid ballhandling acumen into a lead guard role, as he has done with both nominal starting shooting guard Austin Reaves and starting power forward LeBron James. D-Lo's ostensible backup, Gabe Vincent, is also on the shelf. 

Although there are rumblings about a possible Spencer Dinwiddie buyout signing on the horizon, he's not available yet. Rookie Jalen Hood-Schifino is the other actual point guard on the team's standard roster, but odds are exceedingly slim he earns a starting role should Russell not be able to play.

This season, Russell is averaging 17.3 points on .465/.416/.800 shooting splits, 6.2 assists, 2.7 rebounds and 0.8 steals a night.