A thin Lakers roster just got even skinnier, as Jordan Clarkson and Wesley Johnson will both miss Wednesday’s season finale due to sprained left ankles, head coach Byron Scott said at shootaround.
Clarkson suffered his injury during the fourth quarter of Monday’s loss to Sacramento, while Johnson missed the last game.
Two former Los Angeles D-Fenders, Jabari Brown and Vander Blue, will start and serve as the Lakers’ only guards in Wednesday’s rematch with the Kings. Ryan Kelly, Jordan Hill and Tarik Black round out the starting five, giving L.A. the following depth chart.
PG: Jabari Brown
SG: Vander Blue
SF: Ryan Kelly
PF: Jordan Hill, Ed Davis, Carlos Boozer
C: Tarik Black, Robert Sacre
With only eight available players, it is likely that some may have to play out of position. Kelly, who is a natural power forward, will continue to play a spot lower, like he did on Wednesday. Fortunately for the Lakers, both Brown and Blue have displayed the ability to switch between point guard and shooting guard while with the D-Fenders.
For the second straight season, the Lakers will end the year with the NBA’s most games lost due to injury.
LAKERS GAMES MISSED TO INJURY: 339 (last year, league-high 319)
Julius Randle: 81
Steve Nash: 73 (before being waived)
Kobe Bryant: 47
Nick Young: 39
Ronnie Price: 31
Ryan Kelly: 29
Xavier Henry: 16 (before being waived)
Wayne Ellington: 15
Jeremy Lin: 7
Jordan Hill: 5
Wesley Johnson: 5
Carlos Boozer: 3
Tarik Black: 2
*Dwight Buycks is out for the season due to a fractured right hand. However, he was not re-signed after his 10-day contract and therefore did not miss any games.