Is Jarred Vanderbilt playing tonight? Latest injury update for Nuggets vs. Lakers, Game 3

The Los Angeles Lakers are in a serious hole. They squandered a perfect opportunity to steal a game in the road, watching Jamal Murray hit a buzzer-beating dagger that put them down 2-0. They've now lost 10 straight games to the Nuggets stretching back to last regular season and are in danger of being swept out of the playoffs by Denver again.

One of the biggest issues for the Lakers has been a lack of bench production. Through two games they've outscored the Nuggets by plus-2 in the 38 minutes their starters — D'Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura, LeBron James and Anthony Davis — have been on the floor together. That means they've been outscored by 15 points in the 58 minutes that anyone from that quintet has been on the bench.

Taurean Prince is the only bench player who has scored in the series for the Lakers and Spencer Dinwiddie, Gabe Vincent and Jaxson Hayes have played a total of 57 minutes going a combined 0-of-3 from the floor.

He isn't a big offensive contributor but versatile forward Jarred Vanderbilt was a trusted part of the Lakers' postseason rotation last year and played 13.4 minutes per game in the series against the Nuggets. Injuries have kept him out of the first two games and he's just one of a number of players the Lakers could really use right now.

Jarred Vanderbilt is out for Game 3 against the Nuggets

Vanderbilt is working on recovering from a foot injury and hasn't played since February. There had been some buzz that he might be able to return for Game 3 but he's listed as out on the NBA's official injury report. Vanderbilt joined on the Lakers' injury report by big man Christian Wood, who is recovering from left knee surgery, and Cam Reddish who is recovering from an ankle sprain.

All three of these players have been battling injuries for much of the season and none of them were game-changers even when they were healthy. But the Lakers don't have many other options — the bench rotation they've been using hasn't worked and they don't have anyone else to bring in with meaningful experience. Right now they have to hope that Dinwiddie and Vincent can turn things around or that Vanderbilt, Wood and/or Reddish can get better in a hurry.