{"id":626297,"date":"2026-02-26T16:25:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T16:25:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/626297\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T16:25:18","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T16:25:18","slug":"lakers-injury-update-could-leave-them-without-two-key-players-vs-suns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/626297\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers’ Injury Update Could Leave Them Without Two Key Players vs. Suns"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> could enter Thursday night without two key rotation pieces as they face the Phoenix Suns<\/a> in a pivotal Western Conference matchup.<\/p>\n

Rui Hachimura is listed as questionable with an illness, while Jaxson Hayes is probable after missing Tuesday\u2019s 110-109 loss to the Orlando Magic with a right ankle sprain. With just 25 games remaining and playoff positioning tightening, availability matters more than ever.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles (34-23) dropped two straight and four of its last six. After briefly enjoying a clean bill of health with LeBron James, Luka Don\u010di\u0107, and Austin Reaves all active, the Lakers are once again juggling rotation uncertainty.<\/p>\n

Rui Hachimura\u2019s Status Looms Large\"\"<\/p>\n

Hachimura\u2019s potential absence would sting. The forward has embraced his bench role since mid-January while maintaining starter-level impact. He\u2019s averaging 11.7 points per game on 50.6% shooting and a sharp 44% from three. Even in Tuesday\u2019s loss, he logged 26 minutes, scored 10 points, and was part of the closing lineup.<\/p>\n

Hachimura is playing 29.5 minutes per night and functions as one of the Lakers\u2019 most reliable floor spacers. If he cannot go, forwards like Jake LaRavia would need to absorb extra minutes. Given it\u2019s an illness, there\u2019s little long-term concern, but his short-term availability could swing Thursday\u2019s matchup.<\/p>\n

MORE: Knicks Emerge as Potential LeBron James Free Agency Destination<\/a><\/p>\n

Jaxson Hayes Trending Toward Return\"\"<\/p>\n

Hayes\u2019 situation appears more optimistic. Head coach JJ Redick described the ankle issue as a \u201clittle bruise\u201d and labeled him day-to-day. Imaging supported that evaluation, and Hayes is now listed as probable. If he plays, he will have missed just one game. <\/p>\n

His return would stabilize the second unit. Hayes is averaging 6.8 points while shooting a career-high 77% from the field. Redick recently called him the team\u2019s best vertical lob threat, hinting both to his importance on the floor and hinting once again to Deandre Ayton’s fall out of favor in the rotation.<\/p>\n

MORE: Darius Garland Injury Update Hints Potential Clippers Debut Date<\/a><\/p>\n

For the Phoenix Suns, they will be without Devin Booker, Dillon Brooks, Cole Anthony, Jordan Goodwin, and Haywood Highsmith. Coming off of losing seven of their last ten, the Suns sit just two games ahead of the Lakers. But Phoenix leads the season series 2-1, making this final meeting significant for potential tiebreaker implications.<\/p>\n

If the Lakers want to protect their place in the West\u2019s top six, they need stability and ideally, both Hachimura and Hayes in uniform.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Los Angeles Lakers could enter Thursday night without two key rotation pieces as they face the Phoenix…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":626298,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3790],"tags":[7,3636,1035,32,4034,1698,300,4044,251,150,4033,4043,6,472,1012],"class_list":{"0":"post-626297","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-lakers","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-injuries","10":"tag-injury","11":"tag-jaxson-hayes","12":"tag-la","13":"tag-la-lakers","14":"tag-lakers","15":"tag-lalakers","16":"tag-los-angeles","17":"tag-los-angeles-lakers","18":"tag-losangeles","19":"tag-losangeleslakers","20":"tag-nba","21":"tag-phoenix-suns","22":"tag-rui-hachimura"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116137868834521150","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626297","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=626297"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/626297\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/626298"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=626297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=626297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=626297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}