LOS ANGELES — Starting forwards LeBron James and Rui Hachimura could return for the Lakers’ home game against the Chicago Bulls on Saturday night.
James and Hachimura were upgraded to questionable on the team’s Friday evening injury report after missing the last several games.
The 40-year-old James missed the previous seven games because of a strained left groin injury he suffered late in the March 8 road loss to the Boston Celtics.
The four-time league MVP averaged 25 points (while shooting 51.7% from the field, 38.4% from 3-point range), 8.5 assists and 8.2 rebounds while playing 58 of 62 games before missing time with the groin ailment. James and Denver Nuggets reigning MVP Nikola Jokic are the only players in the NBA averaging at least 25 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.
Hachimura missed 10 consecutive games of left patellar tendinopathy. He hasn’t played since the Feb. 27 home win against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Hachimura is averaging 13.3 points (while shooting 50.6% from the field, 41% from 3-point range) and 5.2 rebounds in 50 games (all starts).
The Lakers went 7-5 without Hachimura and 3-4 without James. That included a 3-3 stretch of six games in eight days that concluded with Thursday’s blowout loss to the Milwaukee Bucks – a game Luka Doncic (sprained right ankle), Austin Reaves (sprained right ankle), Dorian Finney-Smith (left ankle injury management) and Jarred Vanderbilt (strained right groin) also were unavailable for.
Doncic, Reaves, Finney-Smith and Vanderbilt were listed as probable for Saturday’s game, which is the final game of a five-game homestand before a four-game trip.
BULLS AT LAKERS
When: Saturday, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Crypto.com Arena
TV/radio: Spectrum SportsNet/710 AM