The Los Angeles Lakers were recently riding high with their eight-game winning streak but that came to an end on Saturday when they were defeated by their longtime rivals, the Boston Celtics.
Now the Lakers are hoping to get back on track with a win over the Brooklyn Nets, but they will be without four vital players during that game.
According to Jovan Buha, Jaxson Hayes has been officially downgraded to be out for Monday night’s game.
That means the Lakers will be missing Hayes, LeBron James, Rui Hachimura, and Dorian Finney-Smith.
Meanwhile, Luka Doncic is still questionable for the match.
Jaxson Hayes (right knee contusion) has been downgraded to out for tonight’s game at Brooklyn, per the Lakers.
The Lakers will be without LeBron James, Rui Hachimura, Dorian Finney-Smith and Hayes. Luka Doncic remains questionable.
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) March 10, 2025
James went down during Saturday’s game and will now be out of the rotation for at least one to two weeks because of a groin injury.
Hayes is suffering from a knee problem and is day-to-day, while Finney-Smith has an ankle problem and Hachimura is still rehabbing from his own knee issue.
None of these are season-ending injuries, thankfully, so they should be back soon but they won’t be playing on Monday.
Ideally, the Lakers should be able to push past the Nets even without these four because Brooklyn is 12th in the East with a 21-42 record while the Lakers are second in the West with 40-22.
A loss would be painful and disappointing but understandable considering how many LA stars are out.
This game might give Doncic more of a chance to lead the team without James, but he is still trying to overcome an injury too, so he might not be at 100 percent.
This game, which should have been a breeze for the Lakers, is now getting a lot more attention because of these absences.
