The Los Angeles Lakers have a big showdown coming up at home against the Denver Nuggets this weekend. The Nuggets received a major boost on Friday with Nikola Jokic making his return to the lineup after being out due to the birth of a new child. But the Lakers are set to receive a boost of their own. Rui Hachimura is no longer on the Lakers’ injury report, clearing the way for him to return to the lineup against the Nuggets.
Rui Hachimura had missed the Lakers’ last four games due to an ankle injury. During that time, rookie wing Dalton Knecht had replaced him in the starting lineup.
Knecht has played well enough that Lakers’ head coach JJ Redick fielded questions about the rookie remaining in the starting lineup upon Hachimura’s return. While Redick has acknowledged that nothing is quite definitive, he didn’t anticipate Hachimura not starting upon his return.
With a Western Conference rival coming to town, the Lakers will take all the firepower they can get. Their frontcourt remains short-handed due to injury with Jaxson Hayes, Jarred Vanderbilt and Christian Wood still sidelined. Rookies Bronny James and Quincy Olivari have been added to the injury report as out as well.
The Lakers are coming off a tough loss at home to the Orlando Magic during which they missed several free-throws down the stretch, paving the way for the eventual Franz Wagner game-winner.
Rui Hachimura’s season for the Lakers
During the early-goings of the 2024-25 season, Hachimura has been solid. He’s shown an increased aggressiveness offensively with a knack for moving off ball and putting himself in good scoring position.
Hachimura has appeared in ten games for the Lakers so far this season at a little over 33 minutes per game. He’s been averaging 12.7 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.5 assists with splits of 42.1 percent shooting from the field, 50 percent shooting from the three-point line and 82.6 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
His three-point shooting percentage is a career-high. One of the things Redick and the coaching staff have challenged Hachimura to do is be more aggressive on the glass. His 6.1 rebounds ties a career-high which he averaged during his rookie season in 2019-20.
This is the Japanese native’s second full season with the Lakers after being acquired in a trade with the Washington Wizards in the middle of the 2022-23 season. The former No. 9 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft played the first three and a half seasons of his career with the Wizards.
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