LeBron James and Luka Doncic were phenomenal against the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday (naturally-ikyk). LeBron ended the game as the highest-scorer for the Lakers while Luka registered his first triple-double for them. But the Los Angeles Lakers now have a tough schedule ahead of them. They’ll face winning teams who will be looking to snap the Lakers’ 3-game winning streak.
Their first opponents will be the Minnesota Timberwolves. The T-Wolves just beat the Oklahoma City Thunder who are atop the Western Conference (if you’ve been following the story, you’ll know that Finch might have just provided a roadmap for other teams to get the best of SGA & Co.). So the Lakers will need the star duo of Luka and LeBron firing on all cylinders to vanquish the T-Wolves. So let’s see what the injury report says.
Los Angeles Lakers vs Minnesota Timberwolves Injury Report – will LeBron James and Luka Doncic play tonight?
The injury report submitted by Los Angeles is better than the ones from earlier this season. In fact, the Lakers have only 3 players on the report. LeBron James is once again listed as PROBABLE with a left foot issue. If you’ve been following the Lakers this season, you already know what this means—he’ll likely shake it off, suit up, and drop 24+ anyway. So Lakers fans, you can relax; this is the King we’re talking about, after all.
The second player on the report is Maxi Kleber, who remains OUT recovering from foot surgery. He is yet to make his Lakers debut after arriving alongside Luka Doncic from the Mavs. The final name is Bronny James. But he isn’t injured, but rather is OUT of the T-Wolves game on assignment in the G-League.
Moving on to the Minnesota Timberwolves, they have one more player on the injury report than the Lakers. Let’s start with the most worrisome name, Anthony Edwards is on the injury report. He’s marked as QUESTIONABLE after playing through injury against the OKC Thunder.
Similarly, Donte DiVincenzo is also marked QUESTIONABLE with a sprained toe. It’s not clear whether they’ll play against the Lakers, but joining team practice is a good sign. The same cannot be said about Rudy Gobert and Julius Randle as they’re both OUT of the Lakers game. Gobert is dealing with back issues while Randle nurses a strained groin. There’s no clear timeline for their return yet.
ANT may have gutted it out against OKC, but his questionable status, along with the absence of Gobert’s rim protection, and Randle’s presence, the Wolves are missing some serious firepower. Now that we know the absentees, let’s see what lineups these teams may field against each other.
Lakers vs Timberwolves – predicted lineups and depth chart
With barely any injuries, expect the Lakers to line up similarly to how they did against the Mavs. Here’s what that might look like:
POSITION
STARTER
2nd UNIT
3rd UNIT
PG
Luka Doncic
Gabe Vincent
Austin Reaves
SG
Austin Reaves
Dalton Knecht
Gabe Vincent
SF
Rui Hachimura
Jordan Goodwin
Dalton Knecht
PF
LeBron James (DD)
Jarred Vanderbilt
Dorian Finney-Smith
C
Jaxson Hayes
Dorian Finney-Smith
Trey Jemison III
Minnesota’s bench stepped up massively to mount a comeback against the Thunder. Naz Reid, who’s filling in for Rudy Gobert, led the charge against OKC. He ended the game with 22 points and 11 rebounds. So it’s virtually a guarantee that he’ll play tonight. Here’s who might join him:
POSITION
STARTER
2nd UNIT
3rd UNIT
PG
Donte DiVincenzo (DD)
Mike Conley
Rob Dillingham
SG
Anthony Edwards (DD)
Nickell Alexander-Walker
Terrence Shannon Jr.
SF
Jaden McDaniels
Jaylen Clark
Nickell Alexander-Walker
PF
Joe Ingles
Naz Reid
Jaden McDaniels
C
Naz Reid
Luka Garza
Leonard Miller
The cards may favor the Lakers, but the Wolves have already proven they can take down a top team. If their last game was any indication, don’t count them out until the final buzzer sounds at Crypto.com Arena.
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