Lakers, Lakers golfing, Luka Doncic
Getty
Luke Kennard #10 of the Los Angeles Lakers celebrates with Deandre Ayton #5, Austin Reaves #15, LeBron James #23, Luka Doncic #77, and Jake LaRavia #12 after scoring a go-ahead three-point-basket in the fourth quarter against the Orlando Magic at Kia Center on March 21, 2026 in Orlando, Florida.
The Los Angeles Lakers are set to play the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday, March 25.
In the lead-up to the game, the Lakers announced injuries to several of their key players, who they’ll be without for the cross-conference matchup.
Now, Los Angeles has announced its starting lineup for the game against the Pacers.
The Lakers are going for their 12th win in 14 games, coming after their nine-game win streak was snapped in a recent loss to the Detroit Pistons.
Lakers Announce Starting Lineup vs Pacers
Before the game against the team with the worst record in the NBA, the Lakers announced their starting lineup.
Luka Doncic, LeBron James, Austin Reaves, Jake LaRavia, and Jaxson Hayes all got the nod from head coach JJ Redick.
It’s one of the only times this season the Lakers have used this lineup, as with all the injuries they are currently facing, Redick has resorted to using players that typically come off the bench.
Lakers Injury Report
Los Angeles is without several key players for their contest against Indiana.
In the hours before the game, Marcus Smart (ankle), Rui Hachimura (calf), and Deandre Ayton (back) were all ruled out.
Both Smart and Hachimura missed the team’s last game against Detroit, and while they were upgraded prior, they have since been ruled out.
Redick had said that he doesn’t expect the injuries for either to be a big cause for concern, yet still, the health concerns have kept each out for the past two games.
“JJ Redick says Rui Hachimura was hit in his right calf in the Miami game and it tightened up on him in the Orlando game. He had a MRI that came back clean. He is day to day, per Redick,” team insider Dave McMemanin wrote in a post on X.
Redick added that Marcus Smart is dealing with a right hip issue from the Orlando game as well as the right ankle from the collision with Goga Bitadze. Redick said Smart is also day to day. https://t.co/HW2u9cgdmi
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) March 23, 2026
“Redick added that Marcus Smart is dealing with a right hip issue from the Orlando game as well as the right ankle from the collision with Goga Bitadze. Redick said Smart is also day to day,” he followed up with in a second post.
As for Ayton, he was a late addition to the injury report. He’s faced several injuries so far this season, but was having a healthy stretch over the past few weeks. The Lakers have yet to give an update about the severity of Ayton’s injury.
Lakers At This Point In The Season
The Lakers are currently 46-26 and third in the Western Conference standings. They’ve been one of the hottest teams in the NBA over the past few weeks, and it’s come while Doncic has been playing some of the best basketball of his career, making a strong case for the MVP award.
For now, Los Angeles is hoping to finish the regular season on as strong of a stretch as possible. While they lost to the Pistons in the game that snapped their winning streak, multiple players and Redick all said that they feel newfound confidence in the team’s ability to make a deep run.
“We’re a good basketball team,” Redick said, according to McMenamin. “I believe that we’re a good basketball team. I thought we could be a good basketball team the entire season. We saw flashes of it. We saw short stretches of it, but we’re a good basketball team.”
The Lakers have ten more games to go in the regular season before the playoffs start and their push for banner number 18 begins.