With a four-game losing streak behind them, the Los Angeles Lakers will continue looking for a path forward when they play host to the San Antonio Spurs on Monday night.
Dealing with injury issues, the Lakers (41-25) earned a 107-96 home victory over the Phoenix Suns on Sunday. Luka Doncic had 33 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists, while Austin Reaves chipped in 28 points.
“I’m getting there (physically) and every day I’m feeling better,” said Doncic, who was out from Dec. 27 until Feb. 10 with a calf injury and arrived to the Lakers while still recovering. “Physically, I had my knee hyperextended, my ankle (injured) again, but I’m good.”
The Lakers were without LeBron James (groin) for the fourth consecutive game, and starting forward Rui Hachimura (knee) missed his ninth consecutive game. Both are considered day-to-day.
Jaxson Hayes, who took over the center spot when Anthony Davis was traded to the Dallas Mavericks for Doncic, returned from a four-game absence because of a knee contusion injury to score 19 points with six rebounds against the Suns.
“Just his energy, his effort, his presence in the pocket, a lob threat, gives Luka (space),” Reaves said of Hayes postgame. “… It was good to see him back.”
The Lakers have a little less than a month to get completely healthy in advance of a potential playoff run, and the higher the playoff seed, the better. Heading into the second game of a five-game homestand, Los Angeles is in fifth place in the Western Conference, but just 2 1/2 games above the play-in-tournament line.
The Spurs (28-38) know all about injuries, having lost both star center Victor Wembanyama (blood clot) and new arrival De’Aaron Fox (finger surgery) for the season. Head coach Gregg Popovich has missed most of the season following a stroke.
San Antonio has played twice since Fox was shut down. On Friday, it allowed 145 points in a loss to the Charlotte Hornets before rebounding for a 119-115 victory at home against the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday.
Devin Vassell scored 22 points for San Antonio on Saturday, while Keldon Johnson scored 19 off the bench. On 6-of-17 shooting, Vassell went 4 of 9 from 3-point range with five rebounds and three steals.
“It’s not a great night shooting the basketball but just being able to affect the game in other ways, whether it’s rebounding, whether it’s steals, whether it’s just being encouraging as a teammate, whatever the case may be, I’ve tried to have that role and carry that over to every game,” Vassell said.
In a sign of how the Spurs are trying to find their way without a pair of stars, four of their seven double-digit scorers against the Pelicans came off the bench.
Rookie guard Stephon Castle, who started the past two games with Fox out, scored 17 points and had seven assists but went 0 of 5 from 3-point range.
Monday’s game originally was scheduled for Jan. 11 but was postponed because of deadly wildfires in the Los Angeles area. The Lakers are 2-1 against the Spurs this season.
–Field Level Media
