It was no surprise that the Los Angeles Lakers suffered another deflating blowout loss on Tuesday against the Oklahoma City Thunder, 123-87. After all, the Lakers entered the matchup extremely shorthanded.
LeBron James, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves all sat out due to respective injuries. Jaxson Hayes was also a late scratch. This allowed the Thunder to completely dominate an undermanned Lakers side, en route to a convincing victory.
Another player who remained out against OKC is veteran guard Marcus Smart. The former Defensive Player of the Year has missed the last eight games for the Lakers due to an ankle injury.
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Smart has been a key contributor in his first season in L.A. The three-time All-Defensive combo guard has played 60 games this year, starting 53 of them. Smart is averaging 9.5 points, 2,8 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.6 triples in 28.8 minutes per contest.
The Lakers got some good news on the Smart front ahead of Thursday’s matchup against the Golden State Warriors. The 31-year-old has been progressing well in his road to recovery, and he is now healthy enough for a status upgrade.
The Lakers announced via the injury report that Smart is officially questionable to play on Thursday. While there is still no guarantee he will return against Golden State, his upgrade to questionable for the first time since his injury is a step in the right direction.
The even bigger news is that James is off the injury report. The NBA’s all-time leading scorer is now expected to suit up against Golden State on Thursday, which will be the first night of a back-to-back set for L.A.
The Lakers enter that matchup with a 50-29 record. As of writing, they are fourth in the Western Conference with three games left in the regular season. They are trailing the third-seeded Denver Nuggets by one game.
