On Saturday in Portland, Lakers coach JJ Redick looked at the roster he had on hand and picked a starting five of Gabe Vincent, Marcus Smart, Jake LaRavia, LeBron James and Maxi Kleber. It was, to say the least, an odd grouping, with Vincent having not gotten the starting nod in more than a month and Kleber having fallen out of the rotation altogether in recent weeks.
It was the 19th starting lineup that the Lakers have used on the season, a remarkable number for a team that is only 40 games into the year. For comparison, the Lakers used 25 starting lineups all of last year, even after a major trade (Luka Doncic ), and used 19 in total in 2024-25. The Lakers’ most common lineup has been James, LaRavia, Doncic, Smart and Deandre Ayton, and they’ve used that eight times.
The expected starting five of Austin Reaves, Doncic, James, Rui Hachimura and Ayton has played together only seven times. Even if you swap out LaRavia for Hachimura, that lineup has not played together at all.
But such has been the Lakers’ season: Injuries have defined this year. Another could be on the way, too, as Marcus Smart suffered a leg injury and had to leave the game early.
Lakers’ Marcus Smart Suffered Injury in ‘Collision’
From L.A. Times reporter Brad Turner, who wrote on Twitter/X: “Marcus Smart went down in pile of players in fourth quarter and just limped back to locker room.”
Asked about the injury, Redick said, “I believe knee-to-knee, knee-to-quad. I am not sure. It was a collision.”
It was a tough blow for the Lakers, as Smart appeared to be breaking out of a slump in the game against Portland. In 11 games coming into Saturday, Smart had averaged 7.5 points on 36.6% shooting from the field, making 26.7% of his 3-pointers. But against the Blazers, he had put up 25 points on 9-for-17 shooting and 4-for-6 3-point shooting when he was injured.
Smart was still the leading scorer for the Lakers in the loss.
Lakers Injuries Have Been ‘Normal All Season’
Redick and the Lakers have not yet released an injury report for Sunday, but they’ve been among the hardest hit teams when it comes to health this season.
On Saturday, the Lakers were down multiple bodies, with Reaves (calf) of course still out, as well as Doncic (groin). Centers Deandre Ayton (knee) and Jaxson Hayes (hamstring) also sat out, forcing the Lakers to start little-used Kleber at center.
Said Redick, “We don’t go into games thinking, ‘Tonight’s gonna be rough,’ or we can’t win. We really, our level of expectations, the standards, they don’t change. It’s just this has been like the normal all season. We’ve won some games.”
Marcus Smart, LeBron James Possibly Added to Injury Report
It is possible that the Lakers could be missing all four of those players again on Sunday against Toronto. Additionally, the Lakers could be without James, who prefers to rest in one half of a back-to-back, and Smart depending on the severity of his leg injury.
It’s par for the Lakers’ course, Redick said.
“This has just been our season,” he told reporters. “Look, every team is going through it, I am not trying to say we’re singled out. But this is just, this has been our season. You get one guy healthy, another guy gets injured. You get one guy back, another guy gets injured. Two guys go out. Tonight, you play without your two centers. So, it’s just been our season.”
Lakers Get More Bad Injury News After Starter Hurt in ‘Collision’