Lakers Reveal Starting Lineup Ahead of Luka Doncic's Highly Anticipated Debut

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Cole Sullivan | Last updated Feb 10, 2025 9:07 PM ET

The Los Angeles Lakers are gearing up for a Monday night showdown with the Utah Jazz, looking to stay red-hot after winning their last five games and 10 of their last 11. However, the biggest anticipation surrounds the long-awaited debut of Luka Doncic, who was traded just over a week ago and has been sidelined for the past month-plus while rehabbing a calf injury.

Ahead of the matchup, Lakers head coach JJ Redick revealed some key details, including the starting lineup for tonight’s game, which will feature Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, LeBron James, Rui Hachimura, and Jaxson Hayes.

Redick mentioned that he had considered starting Doncic’s former teammate on the Mavericks, Dorian Finney-Smith, but ultimately decided to go with Hachimura, who has been starting at power forward for the majority of the season.

Doncic, Reaves, LeBron, Hachimura and Hayes will start.

Redick said they did discuss Dorian Finney-Smith, who will be a big part of the team whether starting or coming off the bench.
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) February 11, 2025

JJ Redick also announced that, despite all the anticipation in the arena, Doncic will still be on a minutes restriction throughout the night. Redick acknowledged that Doncic would likely want to play all 48 minutes.

Lakers beat reporter Mike Trudel’s report read, 'JJ Redick said there’s clearly a very high level of excitement for Luka Doncic’s debut. He added that the team will have a minutes limit for him since he hasn’t played for several weeks, even though he thinks Luka would probably like to play 48 minutes if it were up to him.'"

Redick has done a remarkable job in his first season with the Lakers. Los Angeles currently stands at 31-19 overall and holds the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference, just a few games behind the No. 2 seed

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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