Rui Hachimura out vs. Lakers, Kobe Sanders starts

The news came down Tuesday afternoon, about a day before tip against his old team.

Tomer Azarly

@TomerAzarly

Rui Hachimura is OUT tomorrow vs the Lakers after he reported left quad soreness after the Thunder game

Hachimura reported the quad soreness after the Thunder game and didn't practice Tuesday, so the call was made early. Nobody is calling it serious yet. Soreness is about the mildest word an injury report has, and the Clippers' next chance to get him back is Friday at Minnesota. Still, when a guy sits out a rivalry game against the team he just left, it isn't nothing.

About 15 minutes later Lue settled the rotation question.

Law Murray 💀

@LawMurrayTheNU

Tyronn Lue says that Kobe Sanders will start vs Lakers

So Kobe Sanders gets the start, and Gradey Dick should be in line for more minutes too. That's a big ask for a Clippers team already short-handed. Brandon Ingram is out with a right heel injury and a partially torn right Achilles, so the Clippers are already digging into the bench for wing minutes, and Sanders is the guy Lue picked to hold the spot.

The timing stinks for Hachimura too. He came over from the Lakers this offseason and started cold, shooting 26.3% from the field and averaging 10.3 points through his first 3 games. After the first loss to the Lakers he said he was "not a superstar player" while he adjusts to defenses keying on him, and Clippers fans did not love hearing it. For comparison, he shot 51.4% from the field in his last Lakers season. That's a guy who wants the rematch, and now he has to watch it in street clothes.

What to watch Wednesday is simple: whether Sanders can hold up in a starter's minutes against a Lakers team that already beat this group once, and whether Lue leans on Dick if the offense dies. After that it's the Friday status check in Minnesota. If the quad really is just soreness, Hachimura should be back quickly. If he misses that one too, a thin Clippers roster gets thinner.