The Los Angeles Lakers will be without one of their most important players on Sunday night when they take on the Indiana Pacers at the Crypto.com Arena. LA will be looking to make it three wins in a row on Sunday, but they will need to do so with starting point guard D’Angelo Russell sidelined.
The former All-Star is a late scratch for the Pacers game due to an undisclosed illness.
Los Angeles Lakers Star D’Angelo Russell Ruled Out Vs. Pacers
ESPN’s NBA inside Dave McMenamin was one of the first to break the news just a couple of hours prior to tip-off:
D’Angelo Russell is out tonight, per the Lakers, with a non-COVID illness.
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) March 25, 2024
Russell was uncharacteristically inefficient in Friday’s victory against the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday, going just 4-of-13 for 14 points. He was able to break the all-time Lakers franchise record for the most 3-pointers in a single season on Friday, though, after knocking down his 184th triple of the campaign against Philly.
There has been no previous mention of what appears to be a new illness, but all we know is that this is significant enough to force him out of Sunday’s game.
The Lakers have a back-to-back set coming up on Tuesday and Wednesday against the Milwaukee Bucks and the Memphis Grizzlies, respectively. At the moment, Russell’s status for both road games is now up in the air.
LA is currently in a tight race for Play-In positioning out West. They enter Sunday’s contest just 1.5 games ahead of the Golden State Warriors for the ninth spot in the conference.
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