Jarred Vanderbilt was upgraded to available for the Los Angeles Lakers' game at the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday after dealing with right calf soreness. He had been questionable before the team cleared him to play.
The update gave the Lakers one more healthy body in a stretch defined by absences. Marcus Smart was sidelined for the road game because of a right ankle contusion, while Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves were already ruled out for the rest of the regular season because of injuries.
Vanderbilt's status mattered because the Lakers had only four regular-season games left after Sunday and were trying to hold third place in the Western Conference. The Denver Nuggets were a half-game behind and had won eight games in a row, including a recent victory over Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs.
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That leaves the Lakers balancing two pressures at once: getting through the final week healthy enough to finish the season and keeping Denver from slipping past them. With the standings this tight and the injuries this real, every available player counts, and Vanderbilt's return to the lineup fits that brief.
