Reddish returns to lineup at Minnesota
MINNEAPOLIS » Cam Reddish was back in the Lakers starting unit for Saturday's road game against the Timberwolves after being sidelined for Thursday's home win over the Charlotte Hornets because of left groin soreness.
Reddish appeared on the team's injury report because of the groin issue ahead of Monday's Christmas Day loss to the Boston Celtics. He had five points against the Celtics in 18 minutes — the fewest minutes he's played since leaving their Nov. 21 victory over the Utah Jazz because of a groin injury after playing five minutes.
LeBron James, who turned 39 on Saturday, was also in the lineup despite being listed as questionable because of a nonCOVID-19 illness.
“It's something that's really affected our entire group over the course of, I'd say the past, 21, 28 days,” coach Darvin Ham said pregame. “It's kind of cold, flu-like symptoms. That caused me to miss a practice, caused some of our coaches to miss, some of our players, so it's just that time of the year.”
James entered the weekend with the highest scoring average in league history for players who played on their birthday at 33.7 points, according to ESPN.
Wood in rotation
Christian Wood was once again in the rotation as the backup big — a role primarily played by Jaxson Hayes the previous couple of weeks — against the Timberwolves.
Wood, a DNP-CD (did not play, coach's decision) in three of the previous five games before the victory over the Hornets, had 9 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists against Charlotte.
“Just simplify, play with force,” Ham responded when asked what Wood needs to do to become a fixture in the rotation. “He's one of our better rebounders. He's able to space the floor. Saw that with the three crucial 3s for us in the last game.
“Just keeping it simple, playing simple basketball. Being in the right place at the right time as far as our defensive coverages are concerned and offensively just picking and rolling, especially, (when) we're playing him at the backup five. So just him being a great screener, roller, and if he's popping, being ready to shoot it will play to a second or third side.”
Old lineup
For just the second time this season, the Lakers used the lineup that they started during last spring's run to the Western Conference finals.
James, D'Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, Jarred Vanderbilt and Anthony Davis shared the floor for 1½ minutes in the third quarter.
The quintet shared the floor for just one minute entering Saturday.
The aforementioned lineup played 77 regularseason minutes across seven games last season before being the starting group for most of the playoff run.
Russell (five points and three assists in 20 minutes off the bench) was ruled out for the remainder of the game in the fourth quarter because of a tailbone contusion he suffered in the third.