SAN ANTONIO — The Lakers’ frontcourt took another hit for Friday night’s game against the San Antonio Spurs, with starting forward Rui Hachimura sitting out because of a sprained right ankle.
Dalton Knecht started in place of Hachimura alongside LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Austin Reaves and Cam Reddish.
Friday was Knecht’s second start of the season, with the rookie wing coming off scoring a career-best 19 points and playing a career-high 31 minutes in Wednesday night’s home win against the Memphis Grizzlies.
“Dalton, obviously, will get some minutes,” Coach JJ Redick said before the game. “He played 31 the other night. He’ll play a bigger role. Max Christie will be back in the rotation. So we’ll make do with that.”
Friday was the first of the Lakers’ four NBA Cup Group Play games. It was unclear whether Hachimura would be available for the second night of a back-to-back on Saturday in New Orleans.
The Lakers were already without backup centers Jaxson Hayes (sprained left ankle) and Christian Wood (offseason left knee surgery), forward Jarred Vanderbilt (offseason feet surgery recovery) and second-year guard Jalen Hood-Schifino (left groin soreness).
Guards D’Angelo Russell, Gabe Vincent and Bronny James and wings Maxwell Lewis and Christie were the Lakers’ lone players signed to standard deals available on Friday.
Two-way center Christian Koloko, who had played in three of the previous four games, and two-way forward Armel Traore were also available.
“Try to stick to a nine-man [rotation],” Redick said. “But obviously with the back-to-back, you just kind of have to see how the game is going.”
More to come on this story.