The Los Angeles Lakers entered Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal series against the Oklahoma City Thunder without Luka Doncic, who is still out with a Grade 2 hamstring strain. There is still no firm timetable for Doncic’s return, and with each passing day, it looks more likely that he will not return at all during this postseason.
Los Angeles already had an anemic bench when healthy this season, and now their second unit could be even thinner. Forward Jarred Vanderbilt, who can be a spark plug for them off the bench as an energy player, suffered a finger injury during the second quarter while trying to block a dunk by Isaiah Hartenstein. He exited the game and never returned, as the Lakers lost 108-90.
Per Shams Charania of ESPN, Vanderbilt has sustained a full dislocation of his right pinky finger.
If Vanderbilt isn’t able to play, coach JJ Redick may have to go to little-used big man Maxi Kleber or even rookie Adou Thiero for at least spot duty. Thiero has mostly only played sparingly during garbage time throughout this season, and Kleber, who averaged 10.7 minutes a game during the regular season, played a total of seven minutes in the first round of the playoffs against the Houston Rockets. All seven of those minutes came in Game 4, which was a 115-96 blowout loss.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Shams Charania gives update on Jarred Vanderbilt’s finger injury
Reporting by Robert Marvi, LeBron Wire / LeBron Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
