The Los Angeles starters' availability had been in question ahead of the matchup.
Two ailing Los Angeles Lakers frontcourt starters' availability ahead of the team's first encounter this year with the Denver Nuggets — the team that has kicked them out of the last two playoffs — has been revealed., head coach JJ Redick will be starting his traditional first five: point guard Austin Reaves, shooting guard Cam Reddish, forwards Rui Hachimura and LeBron James, and center Anthony Davis.
Hachimura will be making his return to the lineup after missing L.A.'s last three games with a right ankle sprain. In those contests, rookie swingman Dalton Knecht had started for Hachimura, and had been so good that there had been some question as to whether or not he had permanently taken Hachimura's spot — or, perhaps, Reddish's when Hachimura recuperated.
Two guards who are not a part of Redick's rotation at all now will not get the opportunity to be part of it on Saturday night: rookie point guard Bronny James is grappling with a left heel contusion, while rookie two-way guard Quincy Olivari is out with a right ankle sprain. Second-year combo guard Jalen Hood-Schifino, L.A.'s No. 17 pick out of Indiana in the 2023 NBA Draft, is merely doubtful due to a lingering left hamstring strain.
The 10-5 Lakers are hosting the matchup at Crypto.com Arena, where they are 7-1, and understandably are 3.5-point betting favorites to win, perNuggets power forward Aaron Gordon remains out for a while with a right calf strain, Vlatko Cancar is on the shelf with a left knee sprain, DaRon Holmes II continues to recover from a right Achilles tendon surgery, two-way player Spencer Jones is with Denver's NBAGL squad, the Grand Rapids Gold. Jalen Pickett is on assignment to the G League.
Denver will be playing the second night of a back-to-back set, having fallen just a possession short of vanquishing the Dallas Mavericks without All-NBA superstar guard Luka Doncic, 123-120, on Friday night.
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