The Los Angeles Lakers have been without Jarred Vanderbilt and Christian Wood since February 1st and 14th, respectively. Both forwards appeared to be trending towards a return in Game 3 of the team’s first-round series with the Denver Nuggets on Thursday. That will not be the case, according to the team’s official injury report.
Vanderbilt and Wood both remain out, with a right foot sprain and left knee injury, respectively. Los Angeles will also be without Cam Reddish and Jalen Hood-Schifino, who are sidelined with a right ankle sprain and back injury, respectively. Stars Anthony Davis and LeBron James are listed as probable, as they have been for much of the 2023-24 season.
Both players were limited participants in practice – which did not include any contact drills – on Wednesday. Vanderbilt spent much of the season injured, appearing in just 29 games, making six starts. He averaged 5.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.2 blocks in 20.0 minutes per game while shooting 51.8% from the field. Wood appeared in 50 games, however, he made just one start. He averaged 6.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.0 assists, 0.3 steals and 0.7 blocks in 17.4 minutes per game while shooting 46.6% from the field, 30.7% from three-point range and 70.2% from the free-throw line.
Can the Los Angeles Lakers make the series interesting?
The Los Angeles Lakers find themselves in an 0-2 hole against the Denver Nuggets. The team squandered opportunities in Game 1 and Game 2, which they led by as many as 12 and 20 points, respectively. While things do not look good for the Lakers, the series will now shift to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Thursday.
Despite the demoralizing loss, the team will have the opportunity to take momentum back, if they are able to protect their home court. They will still, however, need to win one game in Denver as they failed to take home-court advantage. While defeating the defending champions four out of five times is no easy task, the Lakers have the opportunity to make things interesting. To do so, however, they need to make it a best-of-three series by winning both games at home.
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