Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images

JJ Redick, Los Angeles Lakers

The Los Angeles Lakers‘ bid to stay in contention for a favorable homecourt advantage in the playoffs got more bad news after they lost to the Golden State Warriors 123-116 on Thursday at home.

Starting forward Rui Hachimura was ruled out for Friday’s home game against the New Orleans Pelicans on the second night of a back-to-back schedule.

The Japanese forward has been held out of playing back-to-back nights since he returned from left patellar tendinopathy that cost him 12 games.

Hachimura had just come off his best offensive game since his return from the long layoff. He had 24 points on an efficient 9-of-15 shooting against the Warriors. He added six rebounds and three assists against only one turnover in 34 minutes.

Without Hachimura, the Lakers will lean on veteran reserve Dorian Finney-Smith to start in his place.

The Lakers cannot afford to lose against an injury-ravaged Pelicans, who will be without Zion Williamson and CJ McCollum, Trey Murphy, Dejounte Murray and Herb Jones.

The costly loss to the Warriors put a dent to the Lakers’ bid to earning the No. 3 seed in the stacked Western Conference as they have the third-toughest schedule remaining, per Tankathon.

After the Pelicans, they will embark on a tough three-game road trip against the No. 1 seed Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday and Tuesday before Luka Dončić makes his emotional homecoming in Dallas against his former team Mavericks on Wednesday.

Luka Owns Lakers Loss to Warriors

Dončić took the blame for the Lakers’ loss to the Warriors after he struggled from the field shooting only 6-of-17, including six misses from beyond the arc. It snapped his 114-game streak of making at least one 3-pointer dating back to 2023.

“That performance from me was unacceptable,” Dončić told reporters after the loss. “When I play like that, that makes [it] harder [for the team] to win, so just got to figure that out.”

The Slovenian star finished with just 19 points in the Lakers loss.

“I mean, very, it’s always frustrating when you can’t help your team,” Dončić added. “Something like that, and it’s not always about scoring. You can do some other stuff on the court. Assists, rebounds, defense, all of that. So I’m trying to help in other ways.”

Dončić grabbed eight rebounds and dished out seven assists but the Lakers needed his scoring, too.

There were questions about his health since he returned from a calf injury. Is there a new injury bothering him as his left elbow was wrapped in kinesiology tape and iced.

“It’s fine,” Dončić shrugged. “That’s my left [arm], so it’s fine. I was shooting with the right. It [just] looked like [the] left.”

The Lakers need the banged-up Dončić at his best to get a better seeding in the playoffs.

LeBron James, Austin Reaves on Tough Loss

With Dončić struggling, LeBron James and Austin Reaves carried the offensive load for the Lakers but they still came up short.

James led the Lakers with 33 points while Reaves added 31, 20 points in the fourth quarter where they cut the Warriors’ lead to five but couldn’t get over that hump.

“That was the best I’ve felt since before the injury, for sure,” James told reporters after his solid performance in the loss. “I just tried to press, get downhill. My rhythm, as far as my jump shot, felt pretty good today. I have been shooting it from the free-throw line extremely well as of late. But that was probably the best physically I’ve felt so hopefully I can build off of that.”

A frustrated Reaves charged the loss to experience and hopes they learn from this going into the postseason.

“I mean, you’re not ever gonna play a perfect game. You wish you could, but… it’s frustrating,” Reaves told reporters after the loss. “That’s part of the process of becoming a really good team. You gotta go through those ups and downs, battles of going through situations where you have to figure it out.

“If everything was always smooth sailing, if at any point you in the future it doesn’t get there, if it’s a little rocky then you kind of don’t know what to turn to once you go through things like this. You have to adapt and adjust, and that’s what we’ll do so we’ll be better in the future.”