Getty Darvin Ham of the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Los Angeles Lakers cruised to a big win over the Atlanta Hawks on March 18.
Their good fortunes largely stopped there, though, as they also suffered a potentially key loss in the frontcourt.
“ESPN Sources with [Dave McMenamin]: Los Angeles Lakers F Christian Wood will undergo an arthroscopic procedure on his left knee and is expected to be sidelined for several weeks,” ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported in a post on X on March 18. “The Lakers final regular season game is April 14.”
“Wood has been out more than a month already after experiencing swelling in the knee during the All-Star break,” McMenamin wrote in his subsequent report.
Wood, 28, is averaging 6.9 points on 56.8% true shooting with 5.1 rebounds and 1.0 assists this season. Despite his modest individual stats, Wood has had a tangible impact on the Lakers when he’s on the floor.
C Wood vs everybody 💪
The Lakers’ net efficiency differential is plus-1.9 with him on the floor and plus-0.2 without him, per Cleaning The Glass.
Fortunately for the Lakers, Jaxson Hayes stepped up against the Hawks with 10 rebounds.
Lakers HC Darvin Ham Delivers Positive Injury News Outside of Christian Wood
Head Coach Darvin Ham did not address Wood’s injury after the game. Before the contest, however, he provided updates on Jarred Vanderbilt and Gabe Vincent. The word on Cam Reddish was even more encouraging.
“Darvin Ham says Jarred Vanderbilt and Gabe Vincent are progressing ‘according to plan,’” The Athletic’s Jovan Buha reported on X on March 18. Cam Reddish should be returning soon.”
Vanderbilt has missed the Lakers’ last 19 games. He also missed the first 20 games.
He is averaging 5.2 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 1. 2 steals in his 29 appearances for the Lakers this season. Like Wood, the Lakers have been better with Vanderbilt than without, and the numbers are even more lopsided.
The Lakers have a plus-6.1 net efficiency differential with Vanderbilt on the court. That differential drops to minus-0.6 without him.
Jarred Vanderbilt working on one-legged shots
Vincent has played in just one game since October and five contests all season.
His last action came in late December. He could need a longer runway to ramp up than the Lakers have before the postseason starts. Vincent is averaging 5.4 points, 3.0 assists, and 1.0 rebounds.
Reddish has missed 19 of the last 24 games, including the last three straight. He’s averaging 6.2 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.2 assists this season.
He had also become a starter before injuries interrupted him in mid-January.
Lakers’ Win Over Hawks Key for Play-In Tournament Race
The Lakers snapped a two-game skid at the right time with this victory which, when combined with the Golden State Warriors’ loss to the New York Knicks on the night, moved LA into ninth place in the Western Conference standings.
This coming fresh off a road loss to the Warriors two nights before.
The two teams will meet once more (April 9) for a showdown to determine where they will meet again in the Play-In Tournament at the end of the regular season.
Neither team is clear of the 11th-place Houston Rockets, who have won seven of their last 10 outings. That is a better record than all four teams currently in the Play-In race in the West, leaving them just 4.0 games behind the Lakers in the standings.