The Los Angeles Lakers are on a tear right now. They’ve managed to make teams play their game, and it’s worked wonders so far. Luka Doncic and LeBron James have led their team to 6 straight wins. And don’t you think they’d now love to make it 7 against the New Orleans Pelicans?
However, getting a win against a team featuring the likes of Zion Williamson won’t be easy. The Lakers will need their biggest stars ready to go, but this house of cards crumbling remains a concern given the Lakers’ paper-thin roster. So, let’s look at this injury report and see how many players have found their way onto it. More importantly, are Luka Doncic and LeBron on it?
Los Angeles Lakers vs New Orleans Pelicans – will Luka Doncic play tonight?
Let’s cut to the chase: the Lakers have 6 players on their injury report tonight. None of them are G-League players. Two of them are the biggest stars on their roster. Yes, Luka Doncic and LeBron James are on the injury report for tonight’s New Orleans Pelicans game. David McMenamin gave us this update via an X post, which the subsequent report confirmed. But wait before you start banging your head against a wall!
Lakers injury report for Tuesday vs NOP: Doncic and Reaves are questionable pic.twitter.com/OqvJ4ZnekS
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) March 4, 2025
LeBron is PROBABLE for the Pelicans game as the Lakers try to manage his left foot injury. But believe it or not, this is an upgrade from the previous game’s report, which had both James and Doncic marked as QUESTIONABLE. And nothing has changed for Luka in this game, as his status remains the same. But since they played in the Clippers game despite their status, it’s okay for us to assume the same for this game. Even if Luka bumped his knee in the last game.
However, there’s no chance we’ll see Maxi Kleber, Rui Hachimura, and Jordan Goodwin against the Pelicans. The trio is OUT for tonight’s game. Rui and Jordan injured themselves fairly recently and will continue their absence against the Pelicans. It’s not clear when they’ll be back, but it surely won’t be long. However, we’ll have to wait till April at the earliest for Maxi Kleber’s Lakers debut. What a bummer!
Austin Reaves’s breakneck momentum may stutter as he’s dealing with a strained right calf. He’s QUESTIONABLE to appear in the Pelicans game. But we don’t think he’ll miss the chance to help the Lakers to their 7th win in 7 games tonight. So that’s it, those are the 6 players on the injury report for the Lakers tonight.
Now that we know who the absentees are, let’s try to figure out the squad JJ Redick will have put in place to tackle the Pelicans.
Los Angeles Lakers – depth chart and predicted lineup vs New Orleans Pelicans
We don’t see too much changing for the Lakers from their last game against the Clippers. With Jordan Goodwin and Rui Hachimura out again, Dalton Knecht and Shake Milton will need to pick up more of the slack against the Pelicans. Nevertheless, you’d think they’ll appreciate the bump in minutes, even if it comes at the cost of injury to their teammates.
Here’s how the Lakers may look against the Pelicans tonight:
POSITION
STARTER
2nd UNIT
3rd UNIT
PG
Luka Doncic(DD)
Gabe Vincent
Shake Milton
SG
Austin Reaves (DD)
Dalton Knecht
Gabe Vincent
SF
Dorian Finney-Smith
Dalton Knecht
LeBron James (DD)
PF
LeBron James (DD)
Jarred Vanderbilt
Cam Reddish
C
Jaxson Hayes
Trey Jemison III
Christian Koloko
Four of the Lakers’ five starters are on the injury report. We’d be worried if it were any other team. But the Lakers as we’ve come to learn are not ones to be underestimated or written off. However, the same goes for their opponents tonight.
The Pelicans have 4 wins in 6 games since the All-Star break. And they’d love to end their regular season with a couple of wins against big teams like the Lakers. Even so, it’s hard for us to side with a team going up against the Purple and Gold. With the best defense in the league since the All-Star break, we reckon they’ll once again be a tough puzzle to solve. And that is why we believe the Lakers have the upper hand heading into tomorrow’s game, regardless of what the injury report says!
The post Lakers Drop Key Update on LeBron James and Luka Doncic Ahead of Pelicans Clash as 6 Players Feature on Injury Report appeared first on EssentiallySports.