Lakers Injury Report: Status of 4 All-NBA Players Revealed for Clash With Top-Seeded Wolves
As the Lakers host the 44-20 Minnesota Timberwolves, three All-NBA players have popped up on the injury report: the Wolves' Karl-Anthony Towns and Rudy Gobert, and the Lakers' LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
Towns (knee) is out indefinitely, as he suffered a torn meniscus a few days ago, and has since gone under the knife to repair it. His timetable is unknown, but there's widespread expectation that he returns in time for the postseason, or shortly after it begins.
Gobert (hamstring) is also out, representing a major blow for the Timberwolves' elite defense. With less rim protection, life should be much easier for LeBron James and Anthony Davis in this must-win game.
Expect Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Naz Reid to start in the bigs' places, and while neither of them will match their production, both are high-level backups.
LeBron James (ankle) and Anthony Davis (Achilles) are both active as they look to lead L.A. to a victory in a must-win game. With a one-game lead on the Warriors for the 9th seed, and trailing Dallas by 1.5 games for the 8th seed, they're firmly in contention for the upper half of the play-in, making this stretch run of the season that much more important.
Expect a good 2023 play-in rematch as L.A. vies for the highest seed possible.