{"id":68977,"date":"2024-03-19T09:49:39","date_gmt":"2024-03-19T13:49:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=68977"},"modified":"2024-03-19T09:49:39","modified_gmt":"2024-03-19T13:49:39","slug":"lakers-news-injury-update-on-christian-wood-plus-who-could-step-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/03\/19\/lakers-news-injury-update-on-christian-wood-plus-who-could-step-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers News: Injury Update on Christian Wood, Plus Who Could Step Up"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While the Lakers are continuing to overcome injuries amid a playoff push, the team provided an update on backup center <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/w\/woodch01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Christian Wood<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, who was <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/02\/22\/lakers-news-christian-wood-injury\/\" target=\"_self\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">sidelined<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> during the All-Star break with swelling in his left knee.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">ESPN Sources with <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/mcten?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@McTen<\/a>: Los Angeles Lakers F Christian Wood will undergo an arthroscopic procedure on his left knee and is expected to be sidelined for several weeks. The Lakers final regular season game is April 14. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/4SVNc3qJO4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/4SVNc3qJO4<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/wojespn\/status\/1769917110707515737?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 19, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With Wood <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GameInjuryDoc\/status\/1769917545136726169\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">potentially missing the rest of the regular season<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, who could the Lakers call upon to help with their depleted center depth?<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Lakers News: Injury Update on Christian Wood, Plus Who Could Step Up<\/h2>\n<h3><b>Background<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In 50 games this season, Wood averaged 6.9 points, 5.1 rebounds and one assist per contest on .466\/.307\/.702 splits. He had several solid performances prior to his absence, averaging 5.7 points on 41% shooting in February.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">With Wood sidelined, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hayesja02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Jaxson Hayes<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> has taken the reins as <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/davisan02.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Anthony Davis<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2019s backup. Post All-Star break\u2014and in 14 minutes per contest\u2014the 23-year-old has put up five points and four rebounds per game on 69% shooting from the field. Last night against the Hawks, Hayes played 17 minutes and finished with seven points, three rebounds and a block. In Davis&#8217;s absence during the Warriors game, Hayes had seven points and a season-high 12 rebounds in 28 minutes. He discussed his approach when Davis is off the floor in a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lakersnation.com\/lakers-news-jaxson-hayes-discusses-focus-when-anthony-davis-is-out\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">postgame interview<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201c<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For me, it was just trying to do all the little things right. It was a real strategic defensive game and we just had to crash the glass because I knew AD was gone.<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Though it\u2019s laudable that Hayes has improved in minutes without AD\u2014and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/lakersnation.com\/lakers-news-jaxson-hayes-discusses-what-hes-learned-from-anthony-davis\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">continues to learn from him<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014both of them can\u2019t hold down the fort by themselves. As a result, Darvin Ham may have to use one of LA\u2019s two-way players for extra help in the frontcourt.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>An Opportunity for Harry Giles III?<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Lakers signed 25-year-old center <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/g\/gilesha01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Harry Giles III<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> to a two-way contract earlier this month. The former Duke Blue Devil was drafted 20th overall by the Kings in 2017 but has <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cbssports.com\/fantasy\/basketball\/news\/harry-giles-cut-by-brooklyn\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">dealt with serious knee injuries throughout his career<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. In four years and on just as many teams, Giles has put up 5.4 points and 3.5 rebounds per game while shooting 51% from the field.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Though Giles has only played in garbage time with the Lakers, he\u2019s made an impact for their G League affiliate. In four games with the South Bay Lakers, Giles has averaged a near double-double: 11.8 points, 9.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists on 46% shooting from the field and 27% from three. He last played for South Bay on Mar. 11 against the Westchester Knicks. Despite the loss, he tallied nine points (3\/6 FG, 1\/2 3PT, 1\/1 FT), eight rebounds and three assists.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Lakers brought Giles in knowing that Wood would initially miss two weeks. With his timeline for a return now delayed further, Giles could very well see some more action with LA. He has worked hard to be a steady presence on both ends of the floor, whether it\u2019s scoring at the rim, crashing the glass, or protecting the paint with his 7-foot-3 wingspan. Every once in a while, he can even pull off moves like this:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Harry Giles behind the back pass to Skylar Mays \ud83d\udd25 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/9zDEyASmXQ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/9zDEyASmXQ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; TimeoutSPORTS__ (@TimeoutSPORTS3) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TimeoutSPORTS3\/status\/1765357649116148129?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 6, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">No matter his contributions, Giles\u2019s presence is critical for the short-staffed Lakers. As LA gears up to face healthier teams with threats at the five, he deserves more opportunities to show his talent as he rebounds from an injury-riddled past.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>While the Lakers are continuing to overcome injuries amid a playoff push, the team provided an update on backup center Christian Wood, who was sidelined during the All-Star break with swelling in his left knee. ESPN Sources with @McTen: Los Angeles Lakers F Christian Wood will undergo an arthroscopic procedure on his left knee and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4265,"featured_media":68986,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,26,62,3],"tags":[240,3145,1011,1962,4745],"class_list":["post-68977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-lakers","category-nba","category-news","tag-anthony-davis","tag-christian-wood","tag-harry-giles","tag-jaxson-hayes","tag-nba-injuries"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68977"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68977\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/68986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}