Lakers drop 2 straight, deal with barrage of injuries

After the Lakers' impressive and valiant win against the New York Knicks on Thursday, they start the 4-game road trip 0-2 to the Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets.

LeBron James suffered a strained groin on Saturday against Boston and the reported estimated timetable for his return is 1-2 weeks. Unfortunately, these next 2 weeks the Lakers face the toughest part of their schedule, playing 6 games in 8 nights with 2 of those 6 matchups being against the Milwaukee Bucks and 2 against the Denver Nuggets. Being without James will be difficult on top of the injuries to Rui Hachimura, Jaxson Hayes and Dorian Finney-Smith.

I am curious to see how JJ and the medical staff strategically approach these next 8-10 days. 3 sets of back to backs in a row are unheard of. 6 games in 8 nights, putting that much intensity and mileage on the body that that short of a window should be a concern, and I would imagine players like Luka are going to be held out for a game or 2 during that stretch to prevent injury on a team that cannot afford anymore hurt bodies. Luka has been dealing with a back issue from a couple of trips and falls against the Knicks and Clippers.

4 key rotation players missed the game in Brooklyn, and it showed. Hayes, Dorian, LeBron and Rui make up a majority of your wing depth and their absence could've provided Cam Reddish an opportunity to fill that need, the staff decided to hold him out.

However, while Coach JJ Redick would rather have a healthy rotation, he initiated the idea postgame that no matter who's out there, the expectations remain the same. Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves each had probably their worst games of the season where the pair shot a combined 11-40 from the field. Gabe Vincent showed out and had a team high 24 points on 8-12 shooting (6-9 from downtown).

The Lakers aren't expected to maintain their great level of play that they've been playing for the last several months with a banged-up roster, but if they can stay afloat and remain top 4 in the standings until their key guys come back (hopefully soon), they'll be just fine.

Jaxson Hayes was questionable entering the game against Brooklyn and Dorian Finney-Smith was held out due to ankle soreness. They aren't expected to miss an extended period of time, and I wouldn't be surprised to see both of them back in the lineup on Thursday against Milwaukee.