Hachimuras - Occasional Digest

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How will Rui Hachimura’s return impact the Lakers?

Welcome back to The Times’ Lakers newsletter, where things are about to get extra busy.

The Lakers started a stretch of five games in seven days on Monday with a 124-112 loss to the Sacramento Kings. They’ve lost three games in a row and could have a tough time turning the tide during an incredibly difficult schedule this month. This week’s five-game sprint leads directly into an eight-game marathon trip that starts on Jan. 20 in Denver.

The Lakers (23-14) are in danger of letting their slump stretch further as LeBron James could be limited Tuesday against Atlanta. He has not played back-to-back games all year and already played 33 minutes against the Kings, scoring 22 points.

If James is out, the Lakers could at least still welcome someone else back.

Reinforcement on the way

Rui Hachimura was available against the Kings after missing two weeks with a calf injury, but didn’t play. He could be more valuable against the Hawks on Tuesday in the second game of a back-to-back.

Hachimura will begin on a minutes restriction and won’t immediately reprise his starting role. But the struggling Lakers know what they will need from him when he returns.

“He’s our best catch-and-shoot guy,” coach JJ Redick said of Hachimura. “He’s one of the best guys in the league. … This is the balance that we’ve been battling all years: We can play better defenders and our offense isn’t as good. We can play better offensive players and our defense isn’t as good. So we’re continuing to find that balance.”

Hachimura is shooting 43.6% on catch-and-shoot attempts, which ranks 23rd among players with 100 or more such attempts. He started the season on a Michael Jordan-esque shooting streak, but cooled off in recent games. He was four for 14 from three-point range in his last four games before the latest injury. Averaging 12.7 points per game, Hachimura is still shooting a team-best 44.5% from three. He’s the only player shooting better than 40% from beyond the arc on a team that is one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the league.

But Hachimura has never been known as a stout defender. He’s averaging 3.8 rebounds per game this year, which equals his career-low.

Meanwhile, Jake LaRavia, who has started in Hachimura’s place, has been the Lakers’ most consistent defender all season. He can be a scorer, too. Only last week, we dedicated this newsletter to LaRavia’s back-to-back 20-point games.

But Redick also said that the team won’t count on that from him every night. LaRavia’s job is to be a perimeter anchor on defense and he has delivered in that role.

Redick said he hasn’t made any decisions about the starting lineup going forward as the team gets healthier.

The Lakers were 11th in offensive rating and 24th in defensive rating before Monday’s game. They were getting outscored by 0.7 points per 100 possessions. They’re the only team with a negative net rating with a winning record.

All-Star voting winds down

Luka Doncic is on top of All-Star voting.

It’s election season in the NBA. All-Star elections, that is.

Lakers star Luka Doncic led the league in fan All-Star voting after two reveals, the league announced last Tuesday. His 2,229,811 votes were more than 137,000 ahead of Eastern Conference leader Giannis Antetokounmpo, who has led the league in All-Star fan voting for the last two seasons.

“Honestly it’s pretty amazing,” Doncic said of the early voting results. “Just, I mean, a kid from Slovenia only can dream about that, can dream about being in the NBA.”

Fan voting ends Wednesday at 8:59 p.m. PST. Doncic is in line to earn his sixth All-Star honor.

It’s already been quite the year for Doncic. After signing a three-year contract extension with the Lakers in August, the 26-year-old superstar is leading the league in scoring with 33.6 points per game. He had a second child. He launched a new signature shoe.

And he’s become the unquestioned leader of the Lakers in his first full season in L.A. Even LeBron James called Doncic “the franchise.”

“One, I think, [Doncic has] established himself as a global superstar. He has for years now,” Redick said. “Certainly speaks to the popularity of the Lakers’ brand and the amount of fans that follow us and cheer for us and live and breathe with every shot in every game like everybody in that locker room does. And I think he’s a fantastic representative of this organization.”

James was eighth in Western Conference voting in the second fan returns and 14th overall. The superstar who led the league in voting for seven consecutive seasons from 2017 to 2023 may see his 21-year All-Star streak end this season.

He has appeared in just 20 games, averaging 22 points, 6.8 assists and 5.5 rebounds while managing sciatica and foot arthritis. James was named a starter last season, but was a late scratch from the event because of foot and ankle injuries. It was the first time James didn’t participate in the NBA’s midseason showcase event since his rookie season.

This could be Austin Reaves’ first All-Star honor but a recent calf injury has hurt his campaign. Reaves was 11th in the West in fan voting after two returns.

Reaves appeared to be a lock for the honor earlier this season. He is averaging 26.6 points, 6.3 assists and 5.2 rebounds a game, all career-highs. He scored 51 points in a game against Sacramento.

The All-Star game will be held at Intuit Dome on Feb. 15 with yet another unorthodox format that hopes to generate some legitimate competition at the exhibition that has seemingly lost its luster in recent years. Voting takes place in traditional East vs. West format to decide the five players from each conference that are named “starters.”

But the group may not actually play together during the game.

The format will instead have two, eight-man teams of U.S. players and one “world” team of international players. They will compete in a round-robin tournament of four, 12-minute games. If the voting doesn’t yield 16 U.S. players and eight international players, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver will select additional players to reach the minimum required.

Voting for starters is determined by fan vote (50%), NBA players (25%) and media (25%). After the starters are announced on Monday, NBA coaches decide the seven reserves for each conference.

On tap

Tuesday, vs. Hawks (20-21), 7:30 p.m.

The Hawks have won three consecutive games, including two after trading star Trae Young to Washington on Jan. 9. While Young — who ended up in Atlanta after in a draft-day trade that sent Doncic to Dallas — was the unquestioned headliner in the organization, the Hawks were just 2-8 in games with him this season. They didn’t need Young to beat the Lakers by 20 points in November.

Thursday, vs. Hornets (14-26), 7:30 p.m.

LaMelo Ball has returned since the last time the Lakers faced the Hornets in Charlotte. The former Chino Hills High star is averaging 19.9 points and 7.8 assists per game while Kon Knueppel leads all rookies with 19.1 points per game.

Saturday at Trail Blazers (19-21), 7 p.m.

Deni Avdija (averaging 26.1 points, 7.1 rebounds, 6.9 assists) left Sunday’s loss against the Knicks in the fourth quarter with a back injury. The loss ended a five-game winning streak for the Trail Blazers, who had won seven of eight. Point guard Jrue Holiday (calf) also returned from a nearly three-month absence.

Sunday, vs. Raptors (24-16), 6:30 p.m.

This is the second game of the Lakers’ second back-to-back in a week. The Lakers have five games in seven days. Brace yourself for some ugly basketball during this stretch.

Status report

Austin Reaves: left calf strain

There’s about two weeks left until Reaves is reevaluated for the calf injury he aggravated on Christmas Day.

Adou Thiero: right MCL sprain

The rookie won’t be reevaluated for at least another two and a half weeks.

Favorite thing I ate this week

Simpang Asia's festival rice: A platter of turmeric rice, and other food.

I’m an indecisive eater. Choosing a dish at a restaurant feels like a very high-stakes decision. So a variety platter always hates to see me coming.

When I don’t want to just settle for one thing, the festival rice (nasi kuning komplit) from Simpang Asia in Palms helps cover all the bases. The Indonesian feast has a little bit of everything. A tower of turmeric rice stands at the center of the plate and is surrounded by potatoes under sambal balado — a red chili sauce with red peppers and tomatoes — fried noodles, turmeric chicken under shredded egg, steamed vegetables under peanut dressing and fried wonton sheets.

We also ordered roti paratha, Bali sea bass, which is grilled in banana leaves, and kwetiau goreng, a wok-fried rice noodle dish with bean sprouts, Chinese greens and eggs. We even uncovered a secret menu item: They don’t list their croquettes — fried potato balls filled with chicken — on the menu but you can still ask for them. You should ask for them.