Lakers' LeBron James, Rui Hachimura Downgraded Ahead of Game vs Magic

The Los Angeles Lakers will begin their four-game road trip on Monday against the Orlando Magic. However, they could be without two of their top starters for the matchup.

Lakers forwards LeBron James and Rui Hachimura landed on the injury report. James is listed as probable due to his left groin strain. Hachimura is listed as questionable due to his left knee injury.

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James and Hachimura both returned on Saturday against the Bulls after missing most of the month due to their respective injuries.

Although the two were back on the court, neither their play nor the team's play went as planned. The Lakers were run out of their own building on Saturday night against the Bulls, 146-115.

It was an embarrassing outgoing from the Lakers, and Hachimura and James looked rusty in the process. They both admitted that they were getting their sea legs under them, and it might take a while before they returned to normal.

Hachimura is now questionable after a mediocre return after his 12-game absence. He posted five points on 2-of-6 shooting from the field, two rebounds, and one steal across 18 minutes.

The Lakers will likely continue to manage the forward's availability ahead of the playoffs, as Hachimura said postgame that he, "Can't really get back to 100 percent right away."

"My knee is going to be like that for a while, I think," he said. "I can't really get back to 100% right away. I got to rest for a long time to get back to normal. But I don't think we have that, so we just got to maintain and manage it."

As for James, he is more likely to play on Monday, although it is not a guarantee.

Following a seven-game absence, James returned to action Saturday but wasn't sharp, posting 17 points on 7-of-16 shooting from the field, six rebounds, four assists, five turnovers and three steals across 31 minutes.

Despite the rust, it looks like James emerged from the contest without suffering a setback and will return to action Monday, though the Lakers do have a back-to-back during their upcoming four-game road trip -- Wednesday in Indiana and Thursday in Chicago.

Although he may not play in either of the back-to-backs, he is likely to play on Monday against the Magic.

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