Lakers list 7 players on injury report ahead of Monday’s game vs. Nets

After the Los Angeles Lakers saw their winning streak get snapped at eight games at the hands of the defending champion Boston Celtics on Saturday, they will try to start a new streak with a win over the Brooklyn Nets on Monday night.

However, the Lakers will be missing at least a few players for that contest.

Forwards Dorian Finney-Smith (left ankle soreness), LeBron James (left groin strain), Rui Hachimura (left patellar tendinopathy) and Maxi Kleber (right foot surgery recovery) have all already been ruled out for Los Angeles. Kleber has yet to make his Lakers debut since he was dealt to Los Angeles last month.

James’ son Bronny is with the Lakers’ G League team — the South Bay Lakers — to boot.

On top of that, guard Luka Doncic (back soreness) and big man Jaxson Hayes (right knee contusion) are listed as questionable to suit up for the storied franchise.

Several players on the Lakers’ injury report suited up in the team’s loss to Boston. Doncic scored a team-high 34 points on 11-of-22 shooting from the floor, the elder James nearly totaled a triple-double and Finney-Smith ended up with eight points and connected on a pair of 3-pointers.

However, the elder James exited the game in the fourth quarter due to a groin injury and did not return.

While the Lakers will be without some key players against the Nets, Monday’s game still seems quite winnable for Los Angeles. Not many teams have played worse basketball than Brooklyn has over the past several weeks.

The team’s current seven-game losing streak is the longest active losing streak of any team in the Eastern Conference right now. Furthermore, the Nets have come up short in all but two of their last 10 games played.

It should be interesting to see how guard D’Angelo Russell fares against his former team with the crowd at Barclays Center behind him. On Saturday night against the Charlotte Hornets, he went off for 28 points while shooting 10-of-18 from the field and 4-of-11 from 3-point range. He dished out seven assists as well in a game Brooklyn lost by just three points.