The Los Angeles Lakers were rolling just a week ago, sitting third in the Western Conference and looking like a real playoff threat. Now, without their top two stars for the rest of the regular season, the whole playoff picture looks shaky.
Dave McMenamin of ESPN reported on the situation in which LeBron James spoke to reporters about what this team needs moving forward.
“I mean, it’s a challenge for us,” James said after practice. “It’s always got to be a next-man-up [mentality]. But there’s no way you can replace that type of impact. So it’s going to be a collective group. We all have to figure out a way to do a little bit more. … But now you got to be even more tightened up on the things that we do.”
“When you lose a special player like that, you can’t have as many mistakes. So we got to figure that out,” James said about losing Luka Doncic.
Doncic picked up a Grade 2 hamstring strain during the Lakers’ blowout loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. He is out for the rest of the regular season, and his playoff availability has no clear timeline yet.
Austin Reaves went down in that same game with a Grade 2 oblique injury. The team confirmed he will miss the rest of the regular season, with a return projected between four and six weeks, putting him in potential second-round territory if the Lakers advance.
Together, the two were the backbone of everything Los Angeles was doing offensively. Doncic was averaging 33.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 8.3 assists per game. Reaves was behind him at 23.3 points, 5.5 assists, and 4.7 rebounds.
To cover the gap, Redick said the rotation could grow from nine players to as many as 11, with Kobe Bufkin, Nick Smith Jr., and Dalton Knecht all getting called up from the South Bay Lakers.
How LeBron James Plans To Carry the Lakers Into the Playoffs
LeBron James | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images
James had settled into a third-option role during the Lakers’ recent hot run, with Doncic and Reaves handling most of the playmaking.
That changes now. Redick has pointed to James, Rui Hachimura, Luke Kennard, and Deandre Ayton as the players who will need to step into bigger offensive roles.
When asked how he would mentally prepare for the challenge ahead, James did not flinch.
“You got to flip the mindset a little bit when your role changes, whatever the case may be or what’s needed out of [you for] the team,” James said. “So the mindset changes a little bit, for sure.”
The Lakers are on 50 wins, the same as Denver, and the battle for the third seed continues with five games left. The playoffs tip off April 18, and right now, nobody knows when, or if, Doncic and Reaves will be healthy enough to play.
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