<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-rui-hachimura-eye-catching-sumo-wrestling-training-video');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lakers’ Rui Hachimura shares eye-catching sumo wrestling training video');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Rui-Hachimura-on-April-25-2025.jpg"><figcaption>Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Lakers’ Rui Hachimura shares eye-catching sumo wrestling training video</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-08-10T20:21:15-07:00">August 10th, 8:21pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-08-10T20:21:15-07:00">August 10th, 8:21pm</time><address><a>Paolo Mariano</a>Paolo Mariano is a freelance writer, editor, and producer based in Manila, Philippines. He is a journalism graduate from the University of Santo Tomas and the father of a young girl whose personality swings from Simone Biles to Dillon Brooks. A beacon of objectivity, he believes Penny Hardaway is the true NBA GOAT.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Rui Hachimura will once again play a key role for the Los Angeles Lakers as they enter their <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-luka-doncic-eurobasket">first full season with Luka Doncic</a>. By the looks of it, Hachimura isn’t taking his responsibility lightly.</p><p>The 27-year-old forward is expected to start for the Lakers, along with Doncic, LeBron James, Austin Reaves, and Deandre Ayton. He has been a productive member of the squad with his athleticism, versatility, and range.</p><p>This offseason, Hachimura is making sure that he unlocks more facets of his game. He is also doing it in a unique way, <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1954718360589279466" rel="noopener">training with sumo wrestlers</a> in his home country of Japan, as posted on his Instagram Story.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Rui Hachimura training alongside sumo wrestlers in Japan this offseason 😤</p><p>(via rui_8mura/IG)<a href="https://t.co/BclL9NdjT5">pic.twitter.com/BclL9NdjT5</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1954718360589279466?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 11, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Hachimura can learn a lot from sumo wrestlers. They are known for their extreme strength, especially in their legs, core, and upper body. They could help the Lakers forward deal with the physicality in the NBA. Sumo wrestlers also have impressive balance and endurance.</p><p>Perhaps more importantly, Hachimura can learn discipline and focus. Sumo wrestlers are lauded for their very regimented training, including meditation. It’s not a secret that mental strength is important in the NBA, especially for someone who plays for a highly publicized team like the Lakers.</p><p>Players try different methods in the offseason to level up, and it’s cool to see Hachimura, who was born in Toyama, get back to his roots. The former Gonzaga standout has also played for Japan in different international tournaments.</p><p>Last season, he averaged 13.1 points on 50.9% shooting from the field and 5.0 rebounds in a career-high 31.7 minutes per game. He has earned the trust of coach JJ Redick, who utilized Hachimura in various schemes, particularly when they play small.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/early-los-angeles-lakers-trade-candidates-2025-26-season">Hachimura, however, has also been linked to trade rumors</a> since last season, with the Miami Heat, the Sacramento Kings, and the Brooklyn Nets being mentioned as possible destinations.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Lakers’ Rui Hachimura shares eye-catching sumo wrestling training video

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/nba-stories/sources-lakers-jazz-rui-hachimura-john-collins-trade');   ga('set', 'title', 'Sources: Lakers, Jazz have talked Rui Hachimura, John Collins trade');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/Colin-Gallant-Senior-Lead-NHL-Editor.jpg"><figcaption>Chris Nicoll-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Sources: Lakers, Jazz have talked Rui Hachimura, John Collins trade</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-06-19T07:22:43-07:00">June 19th, 7:22am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-06-19T10:17:15-07:00">June 19th, 10:17am</time><address><a>Anthony Irwin</a>Anthony Irwin has been covering the Lakers in some capacity for roughly a decade at outlets such as Locked on Lakers, Silver Screen &amp; Roll and Forum Blue &amp; Gold. He currently podcasts about the team on The Lakers Lounge and the NBA in general on Basketball Passport. He looks forward to continuing his reporting for ClutchPoints after entering the rumor foray over the last couple years.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Sources close to the Los Angeles Lakers say that internally, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/nba-rumors-john-collins-becoming-prime-jazz-trade-candidate">they have long been fans of John Collins</a>, who has the ability to stretch the floor both as a deep threat or someone who can finish well above the rim. Many within the Lakers organization believe Collins would be an especially great fit alongside Luka Doncic. Since their season ended, they’ve held a few conversations with the Utah Jazz to try to land the 27-year-old big man, with Rui Hachimura often the centerpiece of the deal.</p><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/nba-rumors-lakers-linked-to-another-jazz-trade-besides-walker-kessler">Andy Larsen also reported on this on an appearance</a> on Locked on Jazz.</p><p>If the Lakers were to include one of their expiring contracts (Gabe Vincent or Maxi Kleber), the contracts would match up almost perfectly, even to the extent to where the Lakers would be taking back less than they send out and would thus avoid a hard cap at the first apron. Nothing is particularly imminent at this moment, as the Lakers are still focused first and foremost on trading for their starting center.</p><p>The Lakers have also remained interested in Walker Kessler and will likely remain as such until the end of time, so another possibility some around the league are wondering about is if a bigger deal involving Collins and Kessler could be in the works. Issue there is the Lakers’ lack of draft capital, as sources have indicated the price for Kessler is still quite high.</p><p>A Collins-Hachimura swap would feel like a bit of a side-step for both Utah and L.A. as the players are so similar. They’re both big wings who primarily guard power forwards and space the floor. Hachimura is a little smaller and thus can move his feet better on the perimeter, but Collins’ size helps him rebound more consistently. Collins’ abilities as a vertical threat have made him a little more popular to some in the Lakers organization.</p><p>This isn’t to say Hachimura doesn’t have his share of favorable voices in the Lakers offices. He has improved each season he’s been in the organization. He was one of the few players who truly competed in that fifth and final game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. He’s willingly played out of position at times and done so without complaint. The Lakers truly do value what he brings to the table. Those who prefer Collins do so because of the improved fit.</p><p>Since Rob Pelinka and Danny Ainge have taken over in their respective franchises, the Jazz and probably Portland Trail Blazers are probably the teams the Lakers have spent the most time negotiating with. The difference between those teams, obviously, is that Ainge and Pelinka have found a way to actually finalize a deal in the recent past. Does that mean they’ll definitely find a deal this time around? Obviously not, but the NBA is a relationships league, which does mean something in situations like these.</p><figure class="op-interactive"></figure><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Sources: Lakers, Jazz have talked Rui Hachimura, John Collins trade

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-rumors-rui-hachimura-trade-more-likely-than-not-with-a-catch');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lakers rumors: Rui Hachimura trade ‘more likely than not,’ with a catch');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Rui-Hachimura-on-April-30-2025.jpg"><figcaption>Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Lakers rumors: Rui Hachimura trade ‘more likely than not,’ with a catch</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-05-22T14:05:37-07:00">May 22nd, 2:05pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-05-22T14:32:42-07:00">May 22nd, 2:32pm</time><address><a>Zachary Weinberger</a>Zachary Weinberger joined ClutchPoints in October 2023 as a Miami Heat reporter as well as an Associate Editor. He graduated from Florida Atlantic University in 2022 after covering the school's athletic programs since his freshman year at the FAU University Press, where he was a Sports Editor and Editor-in-Chief. He then covered FAU Sports for The Palm Beach Post.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>With the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/nba-rumors-could-bam-adebayo-andrew-wiggins-be-lakers-trade-targets">Los Angeles Lakers looking for trade targets</a> to improve their team, one piece that is interesting heading into the offseason is Rui Hachimura. As the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/nba-rumors-lakers-insider-drops-eye-opening-blazers-intel-on-potential-trade-candidate">Lakers rumors keep piling up</a>, The Athletic’s Jovan Buha spoke about the likelihood of the team keeping Hachimura or trading him elsewhere.</p><p>Someone would ask Buha on a scale of 1 through 10 of Los Angeles trading Hachimura this summer, with the reporter saying “5.5” and that it’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICsYOkPU1r4" rel="noopener">“more likely than not.”</a> He mentioned how one of the key pieces needed on the team is a center with Hachimura likely an asset to getting one.</p><p>“I think they need to look at potentially I think changing the starting lineup, and then it’s a conversation of, is it Rui as the sixth man, or is it Rui going out?” Buha asked on his YouTube channel. “And you’re using that to go get the center or to go get the weight. So to answer your question, right now, I would go like a 5.5. I think it’s maybe more likely than not that Rui is traded, but I think it is pretty close to 50/50 right now.”</p><h2><b>Lakers’ Rui Hachimura likely to be trade piece</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Rui-Hachimura-on-April-25-2025.jpg"><figcaption>Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>While some <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-rumors-insider-sends-austin-reaves-trade-message-to-frustrated-fans">rumors have the Lakers trading Austin Reaves away</a>, Buha would speak on how the team looks at their main stars regarding the defensive side of the ball and just in how they see the immediate future. Buha said it’s Luka Doncic, LeBron James, and Reaves being the “pillars of the organization.”</p><p>“Rui [Hachimura], to me, is the pivot point with the Lakers’ offseason because it’s hard to make a substantial upgrade without including him both because of salary and because of his trade value,” Buha said.</p><p>“And I think, if we’re being honest, I don’t think the quartet of LeBron, Luka, Rui, and Austin is good enough defensively. And I think the Lakers have telegraphed that they believe in Luka, LeBron, and Austin as pillars of the organization. That, to me, would indicate them keeping them and starting them.”</p><p>“And there’s always exceptions, and we don’t know yet what LeBron is going to do, though, all indications are he’s likely going to be staying,” Buha continued.</p><p>“So through that lens, I think the optimal way to configure the starting lineup is a center and then a multipositional defensive wing who is better than Rui on the defensive end, and you’re probably going to take a step back offensively because Rui is a good offensive player, and it’s hard to find someone to replace that.”</p><p>It remains to be seen what Los Angeles does with Hachimura, making for an interesting summer ahead.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Lakers rumors: Rui Hachimura trade ‘more likely than not,’ with a catch

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-jj-redick-gets-brutally-honest-rui-hachimura-2024-25-season');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lakers’ JJ Redick gets brutally honest on Rui Hachimura’s 2024-25 season');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Los-Angeles-Lakers-forward-Rui-Hachimura-28-shoots-against-the-Minnesota-Timberwolves-during-the-first-half-in-game-five-of-first-round-for-the-2025-NBA-Playoffs-at-Crypto.com-Arena.jpg"><figcaption>Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Lakers’ JJ Redick gets brutally honest on Rui Hachimura’s 2024-25 season</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-05-01T16:53:45-07:00">May 1st, 4:53pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-05-01T16:53:45-07:00">May 1st, 4:53pm</time><address><a>Richard Pereira</a>Richard Pereira joined ClutchPoints in January 2025 as an Associate Editor. He earned his degree from Florida Atlantic University in 2023 and has been covering the school's athletic programs since 2020, having served as a Sports Editor at the FAU University Press. He was granted the unique opportunity to report on the men's basketball team's journey to the Final Four in Houston for FAU Owls Nest during March Madness, consistently striving to grow as a sports journalist.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>Despite the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers-most-to-blame-for-pathetic-series-loss-to-timberwolves">Los Angeles Lakers’ early playoff exit</a>, head coach JJ Redick had high remarks for Rui Hachimura’s improvement throughout the past year.</p><p>The Lakers saw their season end on Wednesday night, losing 4-1 in their first-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Despite the team’s struggles to keep up with their opponents, Hachimura turned out to be one of their bright spots. He averaged 14.8 points and 4.6 rebounds per game on 49.1% shooting from the field, including 48.4% from beyond the arc.</p><p>Redicks reflected on Hachimura’s performances throughout the season and playoffs, per team reporter Mike Trudell. He <a href="https://x.com/LakersReporter/status/1918016035472691240" rel="noopener">praised him for being an importance piece</a> in the Lakers’ success throughout the regular season, which helped them secure the third seed in the Western Conference.</p><p>“I thought Rui had an outstanding season, and he was incredibly important to what we were able to do this year. He was a vital cog on both sides of the ball. The games that he missed, it was apparent to the coaching staff how valuable he was. Particularly in the last two games, I thought he played extremely well in the playoffs,” Redick said.</p><p>“I’m excited to see his growth. I think some of that is paint decision making, some of that is working on his handles and his closeouts. But for a guy, of all the guys that we laid out what we expect from them, what we’re asking them to do and starring in their role, he’s up there at the top of the list. That’s embracing that and starring in that role all year.”</p><h2><b>What’s next for Rui Hachimura, Lakers</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Los-Angeles-Lakers-forward-Rui-Hachimura.jpg"><figcaption>Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>With his overall performances throughout the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/lakers-news-rui-hachimuras-sobering-6-word-message-sums-up-las-game-5-woes">2024-25 regular season and playoffs, Rui Hachimura</a> may have secured himself a spot on JJ Redick’s Lakers roster next season.</p><p>The Lakers will be focused on revamping the squad in the offseason to surround Luka Doncic and LeBron James with the best talent possible. Hachimura could be in the picture, given his versatility on both sides of the ball that has benefitted Los Angeles since he joined in 2023.</p><p>Next season will be a big test for the squad when it comes to their championship aspirations. Minnesota exposed their weaknesses throughout the playoff series, including lack of depth at the center position and bench scoring.</p><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/lakers-news-rob-pelinka-offseason-needs-luka-doncic-trade">Lakers will be busy throughout the 2025 offseason</a>, whether it’s in free agency, trades, or the upcoming NBA Draft. Nonetheless, they have a lot to look forward to in the long term.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Lakers’ JJ Redick gets brutally honest on Rui Hachimura’s 2024-25 season

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-rui-hachimuras-sobering-6-word-message-sums-up-las-game-5-woes');   ga('set', 'title', 'Rui Hachimura’s sobering 6-word message sums up Lakers’ Game 5 woes');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Lakers-forward-Rui-Hachimura-28-looks-on.jpg"><figcaption>© Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Rui Hachimura’s sobering 6-word message sums up Lakers’ Game 5 woes</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-05-01T00:32:20-07:00">May 1st, 12:32am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-05-01T00:34:13-07:00">May 1st, 12:34am</time><address><a href="https://letterboxd.com/splooshpuhrty/films/by/your-rating/">Jedd Pagaduan</a>Jedd Pagaduan is a certified Clippers and Gunners fan, which means he's a very sports-traumatized individual. He now writes about sports instead as a form of therapy.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>What started off as such a promising season has ended in yet another heartbreak for the Los Angeles Lakers. On Wednesday night, they were eliminated from the playoffs by the Minnesota Timberwolves with a 103-96 win in Game 5 of their first-round matchup. This is shaping up to be a <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-lebron-james-ducks-retirement-question-game-5-loss-i-dont-know">crucial offseason for the Lakers</a>, although they will at least now get a proper opportunity to build a roster that fits well around Luka Doncic.</p><p>In an admission of defeat, Lakers forward Rui Hachimura <a href="https://twitter.com/big_business_/status/1917813068840550557" rel="noopener">could not have summed up better</a> what went wrong for them in their elimination-game loss.</p><p>“We need somebody to get rebounds,” Hachimura said in his postgame presser, via @big_business_on X (formerly Twitter). “I got to be one of them. … I can’t just be face-to-face, posting up Gobert the whole game. I can’t get a rebound. That’s the whole thing. He’s 7’2″, 7’5″ wingspan, whatever. He’s a big man.”</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">"we need somebody to get rebounds"</p><p>-Rui Hachimura on the Wolves vs Lakers series </p><p> <a href="https://t.co/WTCA2wtfc4">pic.twitter.com/WTCA2wtfc4</a></p><p>— Ahmed/The Ears/IG: BigBizTheGod 🇸🇴 (@big_business_) <a href="https://twitter.com/big_business_/status/1917813068840550557?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 1, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>This was a major problem for the Lakers following the Anthony Davis trade, and they tried to rectify the situation by acquiring Mark Williams. But then Williams (purportedly) didn’t pass his physical and the Lakers decided to just push through to the rest of the season with Jaxson Hayes as the only nominal center in their rotation. Alex Len didn’t provide any help whatsoever, while Christian Koloko and Trey Jemison aren’t exactly those any contending team would want to rely on in the playoffs.</p><h2>Lakers tried to plug one leak and ended up opening up other holes</h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Timberwolves-center-Rudy-Gobert-gets-the-rebound-against-Lakers-guard-Austin-Reaves.jpg"><figcaption>Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>The Timberwolves exposed the Lakers’ Achilles heel all series long; lacking a true center (or even a big man, for that matter) to combat the Timberwolves’ size, the Lakers had to resort to double-teaming on the perimeter and playing a sort of zone defense to prevent Minnesota from launching an all-out assault on the paint.</p><p>But even with Minnesota building a house with all the bricks they threw up in Game 5, they still managed to escape with a win on the road thanks to their dominance on the glass that had <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/minnesota-timberwolves/timberwolves-news-rudy-gobert-joins-shaq-wilt-nba-legends-domination-lakers">Rudy Gobert looking like Wilt Chamberlain</a> out on the court.</p><p>“The problem was, I think, ‘coz we trying to help cover, put on two guys, and the other guy diving into the offensive rebound and it’s easy. Gobert’s not the only guy who can get rebounds for them. Most of their starting five except Mike Conley can get a rebound. That was the game,” Hachimura added.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Rui Hachimura’s sobering 6-word message sums up Lakers’ Game 5 woes

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-rui-hachimura-disrespects-rudy-goberts-defense-savage-throwdown');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lakers’ Rui Hachimura disrespects Rudy Gobert’s defense with savage throwdown');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Rui-Hachimura_f6642a.jpg"><figcaption>Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Lakers’ Rui Hachimura disrespects Rudy Gobert’s defense with savage throwdown</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-30T20:17:41-07:00">April 30th, 8:17pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-30T20:17:41-07:00">April 30th, 8:17pm</time><address><a>Miguel La Torre</a>Miguel La Torre is a lifelong sports junkie and seasoned sports writer whose passion for the game has been with him since childhood. A former soccer player turned dedicated runner, he's now chasing his dream of completing all seven major world marathons. Miguel is also a proud Utah Jazz believer, a passionate Manchester United and Real Madrid supporter, and loyal Novak Djokovic fan.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>In a high-stakes <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/editorials/timberwolves-vs-lakers-game-5-prediction-odds-pick-spread-for-nba-playoffs-2025">Game 5 matchup between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Minnesota Timberwolves</a>, Rui Hachimura delivered one of the <a href="https://x.com/ClutchPoints/status/1917767504665141758" rel="noopener">most electrifying plays</a> of the night. With 7:18 remaining in the first quarter and the Timberwolves holding a 12–5 lead, Hachimura attacked the lane and rose to dunk over Rudy Gobert, the four-time Defensive Player of the Year.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">RUI HACHIMURA THROWS IT DOWN OVER RUDY GOBERT 🔥<a href="https://t.co/jHbb9fHQ2Y">pic.twitter.com/jHbb9fHQ2Y</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1917767504665141758?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 1, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>The play immediately sparked reactions online and in the arena, as Hachimura’s slam over Gobert sent a message. It wasn’t just about two points, it was a much-needed morale booster for a Lakers squad facing elimination.</p><p>The Timberwolves entered the game with a 3–1 lead in the best-of-seven first-round series. Minnesota appeared to be in control early in the game, moving the ball well and building a quick lead. But Hachimura’s throwdown shifted the energy. It fired up his teammates, brought the bench to its feet, and gave the Lakers a spark at a crucial moment.</p><p>For the Lakers, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-shaq-brutally-honest-about-la-lacks-amid-playoff-woes">who have struggled with consistency</a> throughout the series, Hachimura’s aggression was a reminder of their potential when playing with intensity. The dunk also challenged Gobert’s interior presence, forcing Minnesota to stay honest on drives.</p><p>Throughout the series, Hachimura has been a consistent contributor for the Lakers. Over the first four games, he averaged 12.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game, shooting 46.3% from the field and 43.5% from three-point range.</p><p>Though the game is far from over, the highlight quickly made the rounds on social media, with fans calling it one of the best dunks of the 2025 playoffs so far. It stood as a symbol of defiance from a Lakers team refusing to back down without a fight.</p><p>With their season on the line, the Lakers needed every ounce of momentum. Thanks to Rui Hachimura’s fearless finish, they got just that, at least for the moment. Let’s see if Los Angeles can use this momentum to force Game 6 against the Timberwolves.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Lakers’ Rui Hachimura disrespects Rudy Gobert’s defense with savage throwdown

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-why-rui-hachimura-wear-mask-vs-timberwolves-playoffs');   ga('set', 'title', 'Why Lakers’ Rui Hachimura will wear mask vs. Timberwolves in playoffs');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Rudy-Gobert-2.jpg"><figcaption>Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Why Lakers’ Rui Hachimura will wear mask vs. Timberwolves in playoffs</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-24T10:50:29-07:00">April 24th, 10:50am</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-24T10:52:01-07:00">April 24th, 10:52am</time><address><a href="https://haydencilley.wixsite.com/hayden-cilley-s-port">Hayden Cilley</a>Hayden Cilley joined ClutchPoints in August 2024 as a Phoenix Suns and Mercury reporter, as well as an Associate Editor. Hayden graduated from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University. He recently covered the Phoenix Mercury for The Next Hoops and PHNX Sports.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>After <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-rui-hachimura-honest-knee-injury-timberwolves">Rui Hachimura battled a knee injury</a>, the Los Angeles Lakers forward has something new to address. He’s wearing a mask ahead of Game 3 against the Minnesota Timberwolves, after being hit in the face.</p><p>As head coach JJ Redick <a href="https://x.com/mcten/status/1915443676375023751" rel="noopener">said</a>, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN, “he will wear a mask as a precaution for a ‘little bit’ moving forward and is ‘fine’ otherwise after being hit in the face in Game 2.”</p><p>The Japanese forward has been a crucial part of the Lakers’ lineup since joining the team. He has a unique blend of athleticism, size, shooting, and versatility.</p><p>He’s strong enough to guard power forwards and some centers. Simultaneously, he’s quick enough to stay in front of guards. The inverse can happen on the offensive side as well.</p><p>However, the Timberwolves have a major size advantage in the paint. Guys like Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid make the Lakers’ lives difficult in the paint.</p><p>Having Hachimura in the game can negate some of those mismatches inside the paint. It won’t solve the entire problem, but it can soften the blow. At this stage of the game, lessening the blow could be the difference between a win and a loss.</p><h2><b>Lakers’ Rui Hachimura will be good to go</b></h2><p>Even though Redick said he will be wearing a mask, he didn’t say what mask. Obviously, it’s a facial mask but it could be one for a broken nose, or an orbital fracture.</p><p>The severity of the injury hasn’t been stated. Judging from the coach’s remarks, though, it’s likely that the injury isn’t too serious. After all, guys like Joel Embiid have had the mask in the playoffs before, and excelled.</p><p>This isn’t saying that Hachimura will morph into Embiid by any means. However, the mask shouldn’t be too much of a limiting factor for the former Gonzaga basketball standout.</p><p>He had 11 points, five rebounds, two steals, and one block in 34 minutes in Game 2. His <a href="https://lakeshowlife.com/rui-hachimura-play-most-important-games-lakers-career" rel="noopener">all-around game</a> is something that Los Angeles will thrive off of.</p><p>It also takes pressure off Luka Doncic and LeBron James moving forward. They have that player who can do a little bit of everything out on the floor.</p><p>At the end of the day, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-jj-redick-rui-hachimura-return">Hachimura’s injury</a> doesn’t seem too serious. It might be a bump in the road, and a little bit uncomfortable. However, he’s shown that he can make an impact on all sides of the ball.</p><p>With the Lakers traveling to Minnesota, they will need all the reinforcements they can get in front of the Target Center crowd.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Why Lakers’ Rui Hachimura will wear mask vs. Timberwolves in playoffs

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/minnesota-timberwolves/timberwolves-news-anthony-edwards-hits-nasty-crossover-on-lakers-rui-hachimura');   ga('set', 'title', 'Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards hits nasty crossover on Lakers’ Rui Hachimura');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Anthony-Edwards-drives-against-Los-Angeles-Lakers-forward-Rui-Hachimura.jpg"><figcaption>© Jason Parkhurst-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><h1>Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards hits nasty crossover on Lakers’ Rui Hachimura</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-19T18:40:14-07:00">April 19th, 6:40pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-19T18:43:19-07:00">April 19th, 6:43pm</time><address><a>Matty Breisch</a>Matty Breisch is a Senior Editor who specializes in NFL and WWE content at ClutchPoints. He can be read at Heavy, FanSided, The Needle Drop, Philadelphia Sports Network, and right here at ClutchPoints. Are you ready to read about football and wrestling? Well, you've come to the right place.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>When the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/lakers-news-video-game-1-timberwolves-fans">Los Angeles Lakers landed the Minnesota Timberwolves</a> in the first round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs, fans in the Gopher State knew one player above all others would need to step up to secure the win: Anthony Edwards.</p><p>On paper, it makes sense, right? While the Timberwolves do have multiple high-paid players, including Rudy Gobert on a max contract, none are as explosive as the player they call Antman, with his unique offensive game and fiery personality making him one of the new faces of the NBA.</p><p>And, in the opening moments of his 2025 playoff debut, Edwards <a href="https://x.com/ClutchPoints/status/1913761362968240310" rel="noopener">showed off his athleticism firsthand</a>, with the All-Star winger dropping defensive specialist Rui Hachimura to the ground as he drove to the basket with one of the nastiest crossovers you will ever see.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">ANTHONY EDWARDS MADE RUI HACHIMURA TOUCH EARTH 😳<a href="https://t.co/VZdDBFwunj">pic.twitter.com/VZdDBFwunj</a></p><p>— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClutchPoints/status/1913761362968240310?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 20, 2025</a></p></blockquote><p><script async="" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p></figure><p>Now granted, Edwards didn’t actually score on the play; he ended up getting fouled and was afforded a chance to pick up his points at the line. And yet, where Edwards’ dagger didn’t put points on the board, it did make Lakers fans open their eyes, as they have to face off against a performer of this caliber for as many as six more games.</p><p>In the four games the Timberwolves played against the Lakers during the 2024-25 NBA regular season, Minnesota <a href="https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask?q=lakers+record+vs.+timberwolves+2024-25" rel="noopener">only secured the victory twice</a>,<a href="https://clutchpoints.com/editorials/timberwolves-panic-meter-concerning-season-opening-loss-lakers"> including a big loss on opening night</a>. And yet, through the first half of Game 1, the two teams have been remarkably well matched, with the two sides trading points through the first half of the contest.</p><p>While only time will tell who secures the win in Game 1, not to mention which team ultimately pulls out the series in the end, for now, fans will remain fixed on the screen, as a battle between two of the top teams in the West, led by two of the top offensive players in the NBA has to be considered much-watch for true hoops heads.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Timberwolves’ Anthony Edwards hits nasty crossover on Lakers’ Rui Hachimura

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-rui-hachimura-honest-knee-injury-timberwolves');   ga('set', 'title', 'Rui Hachimura gets 100% honest on managing knee injury vs. Timberwolves');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/IMG_1441.jpeg"></figure><h1>Rui Hachimura gets 100% honest on managing knee injury vs. Timberwolves</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-04-16T20:11:00-07:00">April 16th, 8:11pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-04-16T20:13:36-07:00">April 16th, 8:13pm</time><address><a>David Yapkowitz</a>David Yapkowitz is an NBA Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He is a credentialed reporter based in Los Angeles who covers the NBA/WNBA, NCAA/NCAAW and boys/girls high school basketball.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>LOS ANGELES – While the Los Angeles Lakers’ ‘Big 3’ of LeBron James, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves have drawn the majority of attention regarding news headlines heading into the NBA Playoffs, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/lakers-news-jj-redick-rui-hachimura-return">Rui Hachimura has quietly been one of the team’s most dependable</a> role players especially after retuning from a knee injury.</p><p>Rui Hachimura was out of the Lakers’ lineup for 12 games during early March as he recovered from a knee injury. He made his return on Mar. 22, and had been sitting out on back-to-backs to close out the regular season. When he initially returned to the lineup, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/lakers-news-rui-hachimura-knee-injury">Hachimura admitted that he was not going to be</a> 100 percent until sometime after the season and playoffs were already over.</p><p>But speaking to reporters at practice on Wednesday, Hachimura acknowledged that his knee is in much better shape than the last time he spoke about it.</p><p>“It’s for sure better. It’s better than the last time talked about it. My knee is doing better. I can jump now,” Hachimura said. “I just got to manage it. We don’t have a back-to-back in the playoffs. . .I just have to manage it and play each game as best as possible.”</p><p>Hachimura has thrived alongside the Lakers’ Big 3 of James, Doncic and Reaves, especially with strong cuts along the baseline and catch and shoot three-point shots. He appeared in 59 games this season, with 57 starts, at a little over 31 minutes per game.</p><p>He averaged 13.1 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.4 assists with splits of 50.9 percent shooting from the field, 41.3 percent shooting from the three-point line and 77 percent shooting from the free-throw line. He is part of a group of role players including Gabe Vincent, Jaxson Hayes and Dorian Finney-Smith who are going to need to have big games as the Wolves defense focuses on the Big 3.</p><p>“They’re probably, I’m guessing, double-teaming Bron, Luka, maybe AR, so all these guys like me, Dodo [Dorian Finney-Smith], Jax [Jaxon Hayes], Gabe, we need to be ready,” Hachimura said. “We need to be ready to help them make shots, whatever. . .that’s going to be big for us and we’ve got to focus on it.”</p><p>The Lakers <a href="https://x.com/Lakers/status/1911872085351420018" rel="noopener">open their first round playoff series</a> against the Wolves on Saturday at home. This was the first season since the inception of the play-in that the Lakers have been able to make the playoffs outright. In JJ Redick’s inaugural season as head coach, the team secured the No. 3 seed in the West and finished with 50 wins.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Rui Hachimura gets 100% honest on managing knee injury vs. Timberwolves

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-rui-hachimuras-injury-status-gets-update-absence-bulls-game');   ga('set', 'title', 'Rui Hachimura’s injury status gets update amid absence in Lakers-Bulls game');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Lakers-news-Rui-Hachimuras-injury-status-gets-update-amid-absence-in-Bulls-game.jpg"></figure><h1>Rui Hachimura’s injury status gets update amid absence in Lakers-Bulls game</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-03-27T18:01:18-07:00">March 27th, 6:01pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-03-27T18:01:18-07:00">March 27th, 6:01pm</time><address><a>Richard Pereira</a>Richard Pereira joined ClutchPoints in January 2025 as an Associate Editor. He earned his degree from Florida Atlantic University in 2023 and has been covering the school's athletic programs since 2020, having served as a Sports Editor at the FAU University Press. He was granted the unique opportunity to report on the men's basketball team's journey to the Final Four in Houston for FAU Owls Nest during March Madness, consistently striving to grow as a sports journalist.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Chicago Bulls</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Los Angeles Lakers are without Rui Hachimura for <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/is-josh-giddey-playing-tonight-bulls-lakers-injury-report">Thursday’s game against the Chicago Bulls</a> due to injury, and there’s a reason for that.</p><p>Lakers head coach provided an explanation for Hachimura’s absence ahead of the game, according to ESPN’s team reporter Dave McMenamin. It seems they are <a href="https://x.com/mcten/status/1905391279350923361" rel="noopener">managing the pain level</a> of the previous knee injury the forward suffered, with the hope he’ll be available for the remaining schedule.</p><p>“JJ Redick said that the team hopes to have Rui Hachimura available for both legs of the two remaining back-to-backs on the schedule after CHI. Redick said keeping Hachimura out tonight was decided by his pain level being higher coming off IND than the baseline they’ve established,” McMenamin wrote.</p><h2><b>What’s next for Rui Hachimura, Lakers</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Rui-Hachimura.jpg"><figcaption>Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>It is notable for the Lakers to <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/lakers-news-rui-hachimura-knee-injury">have caution with Rui Hachimura</a>, who is still fresh off of a significant absence due to the knee injury.</p><p>This season, Hachimura is averaging 13 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game after 53 appearances. He is shooting 50.7% from the field, including 41.4% from beyond the arc. After missing 12 straight contests due to the injury, he produced eight points and three rebounds in the last three.</p><p>Los Angeles has a 44-28 record so far, holding the fourth spot in the Western Conference standings. They are one game behind the Denver Nuggets and 2.5 games behind the Houston Rockets.</p><p>Following Thursday’s game against the Bulls, the Lakers will prepare for their next matchup. They face the Memphis Grizzlies on March 29 at 8 p.m. ET.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Rui Hachimura’s injury status gets update amid absence in Lakers-Bulls game

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-rui-hachimura-knee-injury');   ga('set', 'title', 'Rui Hachimura breaks silence on troublesome knee injury');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Rui-Hachimura-breaks-silence-on-troublesome-knee-iniury.jpg"></figure><h1>Rui Hachimura breaks silence on troublesome knee injury</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-03-23T16:33:03-07:00">March 23rd, 4:33pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-03-23T16:33:03-07:00">March 23rd, 4:33pm</time><address><a>David Yapkowitz</a>David Yapkowitz is an NBA Associate Editor at ClutchPoints. He is a credentialed reporter based in Los Angeles who covers the NBA/WNBA, NCAA/NCAAW and boys/girls high school basketball.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/are-lebron-james-luka-doncic-playing-tonight-lakers-bulls-injury-report">Lakers welcomed back LeBron James and Rui Hachimura to the lineup</a> on Saturday after both players had missed several games due to injury. In Rui Hachimura’s case, he had been sidelined for nine games due to a knee injury.</p><p>Hachimura was upgraded to available in the hours before the Lakers’ 146-115 loss to the Chicago Bulls, and with a change in his situation. Lakers head coach JJ Redick opted to bring Hachimura off the bench while continuing to start Dorian Finney-Smith. Prior to the game, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/lakers-news-jj-redick-rui-hachimura-return">Redick acknowledged that Hachimura would be on a minutes restriction</a> for multiple games.</p><p>Rui Hachimura’s playing time is going to be around 20-24 minutes, and he was <a href="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=3305420&amp;action=edit" rel="noopener">listed as questionable</a> on the Lakers injury report for their upcoming game against the Orlando Magic on Monday. He played a total of 18 minutes against the Bulls, and after the game he spoke about where he feels he’s at in terms of his injury recovery.</p><p>“It’s like 70-80 [percent]. My knee is gonna be like that for a while. I can’t really get back to 100 percent. I got to rest for a long time to get back to normal, but I don’t think we have that,” Hachimura said. “So we’re just going to maintain and manage it.”</p><p>With 12 games remaining in the regular season, and the Lakers going through a compressed portion of their schedule, <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/lakers-news-jj-redick-reality-lebron-james-rui-hachimura-return">Redick admitted that the team isn’t going to have ample practice time</a> to get James and Hachimura readjusted to the lineup. Against the Bulls, Hachimura finished with only five points while shooting 2-of-6 from the field and 1-of-4 from three-point range.</p><p>He admitted that the knee injury is just something he’s going to have to manage for the remainder of the regular season amid a tight playoff race in the Western Conference.</p><p>“Whatever you do, jumps, stops, slides, everything’s gonna feel it,” Hachimura said. “That’s gonna be the key for me, just getting stronger. All the movements, all this stuff, everything is gonna feel it. So I have to kind of manage it and play through it.”</p><p>Prior to his injury, Hachimura had become one of the Lakers’ most dependable role players. He was among their most consistent catch and shoot three-point shooters as well as one of the best at moving without the ball.</p><p>He’s appeared in 51 games this season at a little over 31 minutes per game. He’s averaged 13.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists with splits of 50.4 percent shooting from the field, 40.7 percent shooting from the three-point line and 76.5 percent shooting from the free-throw line.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Rui Hachimura breaks silence on troublesome knee injury

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-when-will-rui-hachimura-jaxson-hayes-return-from-injuries');   ga('set', 'title', 'When will Lakers’ Rui Hachimura, Jaxson Hayes return from their injuries?');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/When-will-Rui-Hachimura-Jaxson-Hayes-return-from-their-injuries.jpg"></figure><h1>When will Lakers’ Rui Hachimura, Jaxson Hayes return from their injuries?</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-03-09T12:47:18-07:00">March 9th, 12:47pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-03-09T13:43:27-07:00">March 9th, 1:43pm</time><address><a>Malik Brown</a>Malik Brown is a multimedia reporter based in Atlanta who covers the Hawks and Dream for ClutchPoints. Malik has worked in entertainment and sports, and he specializes in the NBA and NFL.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Los Angeles <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/lakers-news-lebron-james-set-to-miss-1-2-weeks-groin-injury">Lakers are dealing with a list of injuries</a> to some of their key players as they go down the stretch of the season, and many are looking for updates.</p><p>Rui Hachimura suffered a knee injury at the end of February during the third quarter of their game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. He went to the locker room after going up for a dunk and came down awkwardly. So far, Hachimura has missed five straight games, and head coach JJ Redick <a href="https://x.com/mcten/status/1898525434939081145" rel="noopener">offered an update</a> on his status via ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.</p><p>“JJ Redick says Rui Hachimura is in his return to play protocol, but LAL won’t have another update on the forward for about another week,” McMenamin wrote on X, formerly Twitter.</p><p>Jaxson Hayes is dealing with a right knee contusion, and he missed the game against the Celtics. Redick noted that he <a href="https://x.com/mcten/status/1898524913096413295" rel="noopener">doesn’t think his injury is anything serious</a>.</p><p>“He said that the Lakers have been monitoring swelling in Hayes’ knee but hopes the center will be back soon. Redick did not name the starter in Hayes’ place,” McMenamin wrote.</p><p>By the looks of it, it sounds like Hayes will be back before Hachimura, and hopefully they can come back at full strength.</p><p>The <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-lebron-james-invokes-2018-christmas-groin-pull-latest-injury-reaction">biggest injury for the Lakers right now is LeBron James</a>, who suffered a groin strain in their game against the Celtics and had to leave during the fourth quarter. Right now, it sounds like James <a href="https://x.com/ShamsCharania/status/1898772095259250693" rel="noopener">will be missing some time</a>, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.</p><p>“Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James is expected to miss at least 1-to-2 weeks with a groin strain, sources tell ESPN. James will wait for the groin injury to calm down over the next 24 hours and receive another evaluation,” Charania wrote on X.</p><p>With the numerous injuries to the team, it will be up to Luka Doncic to carry most of the load.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

When will Lakers’ Rui Hachimura, Jaxson Hayes return from their injuries?

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-jj-redick-clarifies-rui-hachimura-injury');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lakers’ JJ Redick clarifies severity of Rui Hachimura injury');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Lakers-news-JJ-Redick-clarifies-severity-of-Rui-Hachimura-injury.jpg"></figure><h1>Lakers’ JJ Redick clarifies severity of Rui Hachimura injury</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-02-28T22:57:44-08:00">February 28th, 10:57pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-03-01T13:59:28-08:00">March 1st, 1:59pm</time><address><a>Troy Finnegan</a>Troy Finnegan is a Senior Editor and College Sports Lead at ClutchPoints. He graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2023 with a degree in journalism and minors in communications and sports media, as well as a critical sports studies certificate. He has had a passion for sports his entire life, and enjoys covering and writing about all sports.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Los Angeles Lakers might be the hottest team in the NBA at the moment after picking up their fifth win in a row on Friday night. Despite a tough test in the battle of L.A., the Lakers prevailed 106-102 behind <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/lakers-news-kendrick-perkins-luka-doncic-destroys-clippers">great performances from LeBron James and Luka Doncic</a>.</p><p>One Laker who was <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/lakers-jj-redick-provides-optimistic-rui-hachimura-injury-update">missing in this game was starting forward Rui Hachimura</a>. He did not play on Friday night due to a knee injury after getting banged up earlier in the week, and Lakers coach JJ Redick confirmed after the win that the <a href="https://x.com/mcten/status/1895714900586222028" rel="noopener">injury is not serious</a> according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.</p><p>“JJ Redick says Rui Hachimura’s injury has been diagnosed as left patellar tendinopathy,” McMenamin reported on X.</p><p>Redick also said that Hachimura will be evaluated in one week, per McMenamin.</p><p>Left patellar tendinopathy is a stress injury that should be able to heal relatively quickly if Hachimura is able to rest and treat it, so there isn’t anything to worry about for Lakers fans on the surface here. Dorian Finney-Smith started in Hachimura’s place, while Trey Jemison III and Jarred Vanderbilt played heavier minutes on the wing with the Gonzaga product out of the lineup.</p><p>Vanderbilt and Jemison had some nice moments on defense and on the glass in this game, but they don’t provide the same level of floor spacing as Hachimura does. As a result, the Lakers will want to do everything they can to let him rest and get healthy as soon as possible.</p><p>If Hachimura only misses the week that Redick specified, he will miss home games against the Clippers, Pelicans, and Knicks before the Lakers take on the Celtics on March 8.</p><p>The injury news that should concern the Lakers is <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/austin-reaves-exits-early-vs-clippers-with-calf-injury">surrounding starting point guard Austin Reaves</a>, who left this game after just nine minutes due to calf soreness. That doesn’t seem like a serious injury either, but the Lakers need Reaves on the floor in order to keep winning like they have been recently.</p><p>Keeping up this current hot streak will be <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/lakers-news-rui-hachimura-ruled-out-rest-timberwolves-game-concerning-injury">difficult without Hachimura</a>, but the Lakers can find all the motivation they need by looking at the standings. They are just one game back of the Denver Nuggets for the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, so they can taste home-court advantage in the first two rounds of the playoffs.</p><p>With the way that Redick and company have been playing lately, that goal seems very attainable over the final six weeks of the season.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Lakers’ JJ Redick clarifies severity of Rui Hachimura injury

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-jj-redick-provides-optimistic-rui-hachimura-injury-update');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lakers’ JJ Redick provides ‘optimistic’ Rui Hachimura injury update');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Lakers-news-JJ-Redick-provides-optimistic-Rui-Hachimura-injury-update.jpg"></figure><h1>Lakers’ JJ Redick provides ‘optimistic’ Rui Hachimura injury update</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-02-28T19:54:58-08:00">February 28th, 7:54pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-02-28T19:54:58-08:00">February 28th, 7:54pm</time><address><a>Richard Pereira</a>Richard Pereira joined ClutchPoints in January 2025 as an Associate Editor. He earned his degree from Florida Atlantic University in 2023 and has been covering the school's athletic programs since 2020, having served as a Sports Editor at the FAU University Press. He was granted the unique opportunity to report on the men's basketball team's journey to the Final Four in Houston for FAU Owls Nest during March Madness, consistently striving to grow as a sports journalist.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p><a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/lakers-news-jeanie-buss-makes-worried-admission-about-hiring-jj-redick">Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick</a> provided a positive injury update on forward Rui Hachimura.</p><p>Hachimura suffered a left knee strain in the Lakers’ previous game against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday. He played 18 minutes in the contest before exiting in the third quarter.</p><p>Redick said that the Lakers are “optimistic” that Hachimura’s <a href="https://x.com/jovanbuha/status/1895645696344408362" rel="noopener">left knee strain isn’t serious</a>, <i>The Athletic</i>‘s Jovan Buha reported.</p><p>“That said, they don’t have a timetable for him to return yet. He had imaging done today,” Buha wrote.</p><p>This season, Hachimura is averaging 13.3 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game after 50 appearances. He is shooting 50.6% from the field, including 41% from beyond the arc.</p><h2><b>What’s next for JJ Redick, Lakers</b></h2><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/JJ-Redick.jpg"><figcaption>Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images</figcaption></figure><p>With Rui Hachimura still on the sidelines, this means he is unavailable for the <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/editorials/clippers-vs-lakers-prediction-odds-pick-spread-2-28-2025">Lakers’ matchup with the Clippers</a> on Friday.</p><p>Hachimura has settled into the Lakers’ starting lineup as one of their steady and reliable scorers. He has also become a solid three-point shooter, taking advantage of the opportunities LeBron James, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves create for him.</p><p>In the meantime, the Lakers will turn to James, Doncic, and Reaves for more offensive production while looking for contributions from the second unit. They are rolling with a four-game win streak, getting them closer to a top three seed in the Western Conference.</p><p>Los Angeles currently has a 36-21 record, holding the fourth spot in the West standings. They are one game behind the Memphis Grizzlies and 1.5 games behind the Denver Nuggets.</p><p>Following Friday’s matchup against the Clippers, the Lakers will prepare for another game against them. They will face off on Sunday at 9:30 p.m. ET.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

Lakers’ JJ Redick provides ‘optimistic’ Rui Hachimura injury update

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">    <head>        <script>   (function(i, s, o, g, r, a, m) {     i["GoogleAnalyticsObject"] = r;     i[r] = i[r] || function() {       (i[r].q = i[r].q || []).push(arguments)     }, i[r].l = 1 * new Date();     a = s.createElement(o),       m = s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];     a.async = 1;     a.src = g;     m.parentNode.insertBefore(a, m)   })(window, document, "script", "https://www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js", "ga");   ga('create', 'UA-66147751-16', {     'storage': 'none',     'clientId': localStorage.getItem('ga:clientId')   });   ga(function(tracker) {     localStorage.setItem('ga:clientId', tracker.get('clientId'));   });   ga('set', 'checkProtocolTask', null);      ga('set', 'page', '/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-rui-hachimura-ruled-out-rest-timberwolves-game-concerning-injury');   ga('set', 'title', 'Lakers’ Rui Hachimura ruled out for rest of Timberwolves game with concerning injury');   ga('send', 'pageview');</script>        <style type="text/css" media="all">            body {    background: transparent;    margin: 0px;}h1, h2, h3 {    color: #DDDDDD;    font-family: "SFUIText-Semibold";    margin: 30px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 21px;    line-height: 125%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}header {    margin: 0px;    height: 0px;    display: none;}p {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 15px 15px 15px 15px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}p > img {    margin-left: -15px;    width: calc(100% + 30px);}a {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;    text-decoration: underline;}ul {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 3px 10px 3px 10px;    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}ol {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    font-size: 17px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.23px;}img {    margin: 0px;    width: 100%;    height: auto;}blockquote {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);    font-family: "SFUIText-Medium";    margin: 30px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 19px;    line-height: 135%;    letter-spacing: -0.41px;}blockquote p {    margin: 0px;}.op-tracker, .op-ad {    display: none;    height: 0px;}article > figure {    margin: 0px;}figcaption {    color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.7);    font-family: "SFUIText-Regular";    margin: 10px 15px 30px 15px;    font-size: 13px;}iframe {    width: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;    margin: 0px;    border: 0;}.vine-embed {    height: __SCREEN_SIZE_WIDTH__;}.twitter-tweet, .instagram-media {    margin-left: 15px !important;    margin-right: 15px !important;    width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;}.clutchpoints-widget {    /*margin: 10px 15px 10px 15px !important;*/    /*margin-top: 1px !important;*/    padding-top: 10px;    /*margin-left: 15px !important;*/    /*margin-right: 15px !important;*/    /*width: __SCREEN_CONTENT_SIZE_WIDTH__ !important;*/}        </style>        <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />    </head>    <body>        <article id="mvp-content-main"><header><figure><img src="https://wp.clutchpoints.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Rui-Hachimura-ruled-out-for-rest-of-Timberwolves-game-with-concerning-injury.jpg"></figure><h1>Lakers’ Rui Hachimura ruled out for rest of Timberwolves game with concerning injury</h1><time class="op-published" datetime="2025-02-27T21:43:55-08:00">February 27th, 9:43pm</time><time class="op-modified" datetime="2025-02-27T22:23:40-08:00">February 27th, 10:23pm</time><address><a>Alex House</a>Alex House is a sports journalist who covers the NFL, NBA, and MLB for ClutchPoints. He grew up in a New York sports-heavy region in Connecticut and earned his journalism degree at the University of Rhode Island. His in-depth knowledge of two of the most passionate and raucous fan bases in the country gives him a truly unique writing voice.</address><h3 class="op-kicker">Los Angeles Lakers</h3><figure class="op-ad"></figure></header><p>The Los Angeles Lakers (36-21) stayed hot, as LeBron James enjoyed another huge outing in Thursday’s 111-102 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves (32-28). The fans are not all smiles, however. Rui Hachimura suffered a non-contact injury while dunking the ball and was ruled out for the remainder of the contest with <a href="https://x.com/DanWoikeSports/status/1895344206224425461" rel="noopener">a knee strain</a>, per Dan Woike of the LA Times.</p><p>The 27-year-old forward has played a key role in the Lakers’ recent success, so this is obviously unsettling news. He finished with five points and three rebounds in 18 minutes versus the Wolves. This marks the second time in the last five days that <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/los-angeles-lakers/lakers-news-rui-hachimura-nuggets-injury-scare">Hachimura suffered an injury scare</a>.</p><p>The former top 10 draft pick is a key floor spacer, averaging 13.5 points while shooting 41.3 percent from 3-point range, but he is also a frontcourt presence on a squad that is lacking size after trading Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks for Luka Doncic. While Los Angeles has been playing great basketball regardless, it cannot afford to see its rotation shrink much further.</p><p>Maybe head coach JJ Redick will have some fairly optimistic news to share regarding Hachimura’s condition, the kind that will allow Lakers fans to rest a little easier.</p><h2><b>Lakers continue their surge in West</b></h2><p>LA jumped on Minnesota early and seemed to be heading toward a straightforward home win after Anthony Edwards incurred his 16th technical foul of the season and was ejected in the third quarter. <a href="https://clutchpoints.com/nba/minnesota-timberwolves/timberwolves-news-tie-unreal-franchise-record-comeback-win-thunder">The gritty Timberwolves</a> once again clawed their way back, however.</p><p>They cut the deficit to three in the fourth quarter, but Doncic was clutch down the stretch. He scored eight points in the last five minutes, finding a way to impact the game despite shooting just 6-of-20 from the field. LeBron James and Austin Reaves picked up the slack, with the former posting 31 points, 16 rebounds and six assists and the latter notching 23 points, six boards and two steals in the win.</p><p>That trio is talented enough to dissect defenses even if Rui Hachimura is forced to miss time, but the 2019 consensus All-American (Gonzaga) is an important part of the team’s playoff outlook. The Lakers now move into fourth place in the West, continuing their climb up the standings, and next face the visiting Los Angeles Clippers (32-26) on Friday night. Ideally, they will have more information on Hachimura by then.</p><figure class="op-tracker"></figure></article>    </body></html>

2024-25 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
13.1	5.0	1.4	0.4	0.8

2024-25 SEASON STATS
PTS	REB	AST	BLK	STL
13.1	5.0	1.4	0.4	0.8

Rui Hachimura news

Rui
Hachimura news