LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Lakers received good news on the injury front prior to their Saturday matchup against the Chicago Bulls. Rui Hachimura, who had missed the Lakers' last nine games due to a knee injury, was cleared to make his return to the court. Hachimura's return came amid a positive injury update for LeBron James as well. Before the Lakers' game against the Bulls, head coach JJ Redick spoke about what the team missed when Rui Hachimura was out due to injury.
“We missed him on both sides of the ball. You can't just pinpoint one thing. He's a connective glue for our team on both sides,” JJ Redick said. “And a lot of that is because of his size, his switchability, his cutting, his spacing. He's been one of our best guys just in terms of getting out in transition, and the beneficiary of our throw-aheads.”
While Hachimura made his return to the Lakers' lineup, he came off the bench with Dorian Finney-Smith getting the start. Finney-Smith had been starting in place of Hachimura. Redick did acknowledge that Hachimura is going to be on a minutes restriction for the foreseeable future, while thinking of the ways he'll benefit from playing alongside Luka Doncic.
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“Luka is able to get two on the ball consistently, and that has allowed us to increase our three-point volume. Rui is absolutely one of our best shooters,” Redick said. “He's a laser and I think he'll be the beneficiary of just playing more with Luka in that regard.”
Prior to Saturday's game, Hachimura had appeared in 50 games for the Lakers, at a little over 32 minutes per game. He had been averaging 13.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists with splits of 50.6 percent shooting from the field, 41 percent shooting from the three-point line and 76.5 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
Earlier this season, Hachimura was instrumental in small-ball lineups for the Lakers playing some center amid the team's early frontcourt injuries.
a]:text-link [&_>a]:underline">David Yapkowitz is a basketball journalist for ClutchPoints, writing news on the NBA, WNBA, and NCAA Basketball for both men and women. The Los Angeles native has bylines with Basketball Insiders, SB Nation, and The Next Hoops.