The Los Angeles Lakers have had to battle through a slew of injuries in recent games and done so brilliantly as they've fought their way to a 7-2 record, just one game behind the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder for the best record in the Western Conference.

Lebron James has yet to play this season, which put the pieces in place for a dominant duo in Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves to shine.

However, that dynamic duo has also been limited recently, putting the pressure on players like DeAndre Ayton and Rui Hachimura to emerge as crunch time leaders, which they've pulled off with flying colors as the third and fourth best scorers on the team.

The void left by the Lakers' notable superstars has also left space for another unlikely hero to be born: Jake LaRavia, who had his identity questioned by Anthony Edwards and has made himself known since then with an average of 12.1 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. 

The Lakers' most recent injury report that's been released ahead of their Saturday, Nov. 8 matchup against the Atlanta Hawks paints a bleak image of Los Angeles' current injury situation, and it means that Doncic and the unlikely heroes will continue to carry the weight of the purple and gold for at least one more game.

Lakers Injury Report

The Lakers have four players guaranteed to miss Saturday's game and one more whose status isn't yet certain. 

Lebron James (sciatica) continued to be OUT. James was diagnosed with sciatica on his right side on Oct. 9 and hasn't appeared in any basketball activities since. An optimistic projection has James beginning scrimmages and practices soon and making his way to the court by the end of the month, but an exact timeline of his recovery remains nonexistent.

"Obviously, this thing has to continue to progress with all of his return-to-play protocols," Lakers head coach JJ Redick said (via ESPN). "So we don't have, like, a target date. It's just somewhere in that general timeline. We hope that he's kind of checked all the boxes and is going to be back sometime in that second or third week in November."

Austin Reeves (groin) will also be OUT for Saturday. Reaves has had a meteoric start to the season, including a 51-point game on Oct. 26, and is currently fifth in the NBA with 31.1 points per game. Reaves has missed the last two games with a right groin strain and will miss at least one more before he's able to get back to his career season.

Adou Thiero (knee surgery) remains out OUT as he continues to recover from his knee surgery and Gabe Vincent is OUT for Saturday's game with an ankle sprain.

That leaves Maxi Kleber (abdominal) who is QUESTIONABLE for Saturday's game with an abdominal strain.

Having this many injuries isn't an ideal situation for the Lakers to be in, but they've proven they can win despite missing the entirety of their core and with Dončić in for Saturday and playing at an MVP level, that at least, won't be a problem.