Jaxon Hayes and the energy of LA’s bench are game changers
LOS ANGELES – Back during the preseason, c Los Angeles Lakers‘ a bench of units, mostly composed of Jackson HayesJared Vanderbilt and Marcus Smart played key roles during the team’s final preseason game, a win against the Golden State Warriors. Since the regular season began, that trio hasn’t seen much time on the court for the Lakers due to injuries.
Jackson Hayes suffered a knee injury and was out of the Lakers lineup for three games. He recently returned during the team’s win against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday. Smart suffered a quad injury last week against the Sacramento Kings and has missed two straight games. He will return to the lineup on Friday against the Memphis Grizzlies. Vanderbilt was moved into the starting lineup due to the Lakers’ early season injury woes.
With a healthy roster, the Lakers bench is tasked with changing the game because of energy bring, according to Hayes.
“It’s just a lot of energy. I feel like that’s the best way to describe it is energy. That’s our job to bring energy to the team, bring energy to the game,” Hayes said after the Lakers’ Oct. 19 practice.
With all three players expected to be on the court against Memphis in the Lakers’ first NBA playoff game on the schedule, the bench can get back to injecting some much-needed energy.
Luka Doncic expected a comeback against the Grizzlies
While the Lakers bench will be healthier against the Grizzlies, the starting lineup will be intact as well The return of Luka Dončić is also expected to the field after missing the last two games with finger and knee injuries.
When Doncic’s injuries were first discovered last weekend, the original timeline for his recovery was at least a week. But it seems that his return will be a little faster. The Lakers wrap up a two-game road trip on Friday and return home against the Miami Heat on Sunday, Nov. 2.
2025-11-01 01:06:00
