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Los Angeles Lakers: How injuries will impact team moving forward

By Donny McHenry

LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 7: Kyle Kuzma #0 and Lonzo Ball #2 of the Los Angeles Lakers stand on the court for the National Anthem before the game against the Atlanta Hawks on January 7, 2018 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 7: Kyle Kuzma #0 and Lonzo Ball #2 of the Los Angeles Lakers stand on the court for the National Anthem before the game against the Atlanta Hawks on January 7, 2018 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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The injuries are piling up for the Los Angeles Lakers. How might this impact the team going forward?

On Wednesday night, the Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder 114-90. The Lakers were only losing by six at halftime but were outscored 33-18 in the third quarter which put the game away.

Insult to Lakers’ Injury

Other than the disappointing result of the game, the Lakers may have worse things to worry about moving forward. Kyle Kuzma left the game with a sprained finger, while Kentavious Caldwell-Pope left the game with a right Achilles tendon strain injury.

Along with those two injuries, Brandon Ingram has been injured a couple times this season. His injury, a left ankle sprain, caused him to miss the previous game against the Memphis Grizzlies.

Ingram came back Wednesday night, but who knows where his health is actually at as he tweaked his ankle. Lonzo Ball missed the game Wednesday, making it his second missed game in a row with a sore knee. Go ahead and make that three games in a row.

Seeing four of your players on the injury report for a game is not good, to say the least.

Missing Value

Assuming Brandon Ingram doesn’t miss any more time with his injury, the Lakers are still going to have problems if the other three injuries linger.

KCP’s play has been criticized by the Lakers faithful throughout the season, but he is still the Lakers current starting shooting guard. Any absence of his will affect rotations and bench players’ minutes.

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Kyle Kuzma has been getting cold as of late, but he is still averaging 16.5 ppg which leads the team. Kuz missing any games would definitely affect the Lakers on the offensive end.

Even more worrying than Kuzma being questionable for Friday and KCP being out is the possible extended ailments of Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball. Although Kuzma and KCP can both score, Brandon Ingram seems to be the Lakers’ “go to guy” when they desperately need a basket late in games.

In regards to Lonzo, his impact is easily seen in the Lakers 0-8 record when he misses games. The team defense seems to start with him, with the Lakers having a defensive rating of 105.00 on the season and 119.38 without him.

He also impacts the team’s Pace. The team’s Pace on the season is 103.56 and 100.84 without him. This is important, as the team’s fast-break offense is a strength of theirs while their half-court offense is not.

Lakers’ Bench Must Step Up

Players who don’t normally get heavy minutes may have to step up. These players will probably include Larry Nance Jr., Josh Hart, and Tyler Ennis. Nance has played pretty consistently in his 21.8 mpg all season, while Hart has shown promise in his first season.

Hart getting minutes while KCP might be sidelined may be a blessing in disguise. KCP will likely not be on the team next year, so it’d be good to get Hart extra playing time. Tyler Ennis, on the other hand, has struggled in his backup point guard role. Per 36 minutes Ennis has a -7.1 plus/minus, which is  4th worst on the team and considerably worse than Lonzo’s, which is -0.6.

The schedule starts to toughen up right at the arrival of these injuries. They start a brutal trio of games at home on Friday with the Indiana Pacers, followed by the New York Knicks and Boston Celtics. After that, they go on the road for five straight games.

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Hopefully, Ingram, Kuzma, KCP, and Lonzo get healthy over the homestand. They’ll be desperately needed for the road and the rest of the season.

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