The Los Angeles Lakers have issued crucial injury updates as they prepare to face the Dallas Mavericks in a highly anticipated Western Conference matchup.

WHAT: Another attempt to get to .500 The injury report is familiar for the Mavericks. Kyrie Irving, Dante Exum, and O-Max are out for the year. Dereck Lively is out this game (so it’s safe to assume he plays Saturday).

After dropping an important game against the Golden State Warriors on Thursday, the Lakers are back at it on Friday when they take on the New Orleans Pelicans. L.A. is looking to sweep the season series against the Pels as they aim to get back on the winning column.

It's been a little over two months since the Dallas Mavericks stunned the sports world by trading Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers for a package headlined

After a strong start in February, the Lakers' defense has come back down to earth. Since Doncic's first game as a Laker on February 11, LA has the No. 17 defense in the league. That's solid, but it certainly doesn't seem to be the championship-level defense the team aspires to.

Luka Doncic struggles and the Lakers can't rally from an early deficit in a 123-116 loss that helps Golden State make up ground on them in the West playoff race.