Pau Gasol suffered a concussion last night, and will join Dwight Howard and Jordan Hill on the injury list. (Stephen Dunn, Getty Images)

This Los Angeles Lakers season is looking more and more like a nightmare. Just one day after a disheartening loss to the Denver Nuggets with a full strength team, the Lakers will head out on a road trip with their three best frontcourt players out due to injury, the team announced Monday afternoon.

Center Dwight Howard suffered a torn labrum in his shoulder, while power forward Pau Gasol suffered a concussion late in the 4th quarter after an inadvertent elbow to the nose by the Nuggets’ JaVale McGee. And as if losing their entire starting frontcourt wasn’t enough, primary backup Jordan Hill also suffered an injury to his right hip in the game.

CBS’ Ken Berger tweets that neither Howard nor Gasol will be with the team for their texas road trip, where they’ll play Houston and San Antonio this week. While the full results of Hill’s examination have yet to be released, the Lakers have classified both Howard and Gasol as being out “indefinitely.”

The injures mean power forward Antawn Jamison and center Robert Sacre will move to the starting lineup.

Both Dwight (torn shoulder labrum) and Pau (concussion) are listed as "out indefinitely" by the Lakers.—
KEVIN DING (@KevinDing) January 07, 2013

Laker Jordan Hill reportedly won’t need back surgery. (Noah Graham/NBAE via Getty Images)

League sources said Los Angeles Lakers forward Jordan Hill will not need surgery for a herniated disc in his back, making him available for the Oct. 30 season opener, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.

The Lakers extended Hill — who was acquired in a trade with the Houston Rockets — to be the team’s primary frontline backup to Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol.

Hill, 25, will undergo core strength training on his back to rehabilitate the injury, sources said. He could return to practice within 10-14 days, but Hill’s rehab process will be fluid depending on how his back responds to treatment, sources said.

Hill’s back injury is the second potential obstacle he’s put behind him in the last few weeks. He avoided jail time late last month, receiving one year of probation and domestic violence counseling after pleading no contest to assaulting his former girlfriend, Darlene Luna, in February.

Los Angeles Lakers power forward Jordan Hill was sentenced to one year of probation and domestic violence counseling Thursday after pleading no contest to assaulting his former girlfriend, Darlene Luna, in February.

Hill, 25, agreed to pay a $500 fine, undergo domestic-violence counseling, make a $100 donation to the Harris County Violence Fund and avoid any contact with the alleged victim, Darlene Luna. The assault charge was reduced from a felony to a misdemeanor before 339th District Criminal Judge Maria Jackson, according to a report by the Associated Press in Houston.

While high-profile lawyer Rusty Hardin helped Hill avoid jail time, he will likely face a civil suit as a result of Luna’s charges. Luna is being represented by a celebrity lawyer of her own.

The moment in court Thursday featured Hill’s lawyer Rusty Hardin, who represented baseball player Roger Clemens in his perjury case, and Luna’s lawyer Gloria Allred, who represented Nicole Brown Simpson’s family during the O.J. Simpson murder trial. Allred handed Hardin a letter stating Luna’s intention to file a civil suit against Hill.

Hill, a 2009 first-round pick of the New York Knicks, is charged with assaulting Luna on Feb. 29 at his apartment in Houston while playing for the Rockets. He re-signed with the Lakers in the offseason as an option to back up center Dwight Howard and power forward Pau Gasol.

Hill expressed enthusiasm for the upcoming season on the same day of his court decision.

Man I can't wait for training camp to start…need to get dis show rolling boy!!!!—
Jordan Craig Hill (@jordanchill43) September 27, 2012

Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports reports that the Los Angeles Lakers have re-signed power forward Jordan Hill to a two-year contract worth almost $8 million.

Jordan Hill has reached agreement on a two-year, nearly $8 million deal with the Lakers, his agent Kevin Bradbury tells Y! Sports.—
Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 21, 2012

Bradbury: "Jordan was excited about the fact that Steve Nash decided to join the Lakers and the prospect of winning a championship in LA."—
Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) July 21, 2012

Hill was the eighth overall pick in the 2009 draft, by the New York Knicks. He played only 24 games for New York before being traded to Houston as part of a deal for Tracy McGrady. The Lakers acquired him at the trade deadline this past season for Derek Fisher and a first-round pick.

Hill has averaged 5.3 points and 4.2 rebounds in his career, in just 14.6 minutes per game.

Eric Pincus of HoopsWorld.com offered his take via Twitter:

Another solid get for the Lakers – Jordan Hill for two-years at about $4 mil a season is solid for a reserve, active big—
Eric Pincus (@EricPincus) July 21, 2012

Other reports also have the deal coming in at just under $8 million, but Pincus calculates it at a bit less:

I have Jordan Hill at $7,537,494 for 2 years (unofficially) – limited to the declined year from Rockets in first year—
Eric Pincus (@EricPincus) July 21, 2012

Jordan Hill will play tonight for the Los Angeles Lakers, despite being charged with third-degree felony assault, head coach Mike Brown has said.

Head coach Mike Brown on Jordan Hill’s availability for tonight: “He’s playing.” #fb

— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) May 1, 2012

The 24-year-old is accused of choking his girlfriend during an altercation that took place Feb. 29 in Houston, Texas. The fight was reportedly a result of a conversation about the couple’s future. The victim allegedly threw Hill’s cell phones to the floor, which reportedly instigated the assault.

Hill averaged 4.7 points and 4.4 rebounds in 11:41 per contest since being traded to the Lakers at the trade deadline.

Jordan Hill of the Los Angeles Lakers is accused of choking his longtime girlfriend during an argument at his Houston area residence, according to a local ABC affiliate.

Hill’s girlfriend told police that Hill assaulted and choked her, causing bruising to her body and restricting her breathing, on Feb. 29 when Hill lived in the area and played for the Houston Rockets.

The girlfriend says she flew into Houston from Florida to see him, and they got into an argument about their future. She alleges that Hill then punched her in the legs, grabbed her, pulled her off the couch, dragged her and threw her against a wall.

Police have obtained photos of the injuries from Hill’s girlfriend that were consistent with her statements. Hill is charged with assault of a family member. No bond has been set in the case.

Derek Fisher has been the point guard of the Los Angeles Lakers for the better part of a year and a half, but now no longer. Yahoo! Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski reports that Fisher is on the move to the Houston Rockets.

The Lakers have traded Derek Fisher to the Rockets for Jordan Hill and a first-round pick, league source tells Y! Sports.

—
Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojYahooNBA) March 15, 2012

This comes just minutes after the Lakers made another notable deal involving a point guard, landing Ramon Sessions in a trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers. In effect, the Lakers have swapped out Fisher for a younger model in Sessions, added a decent young big man to their bench in Jordan Hill, and moved up in the draft from their own first-round pick to Houston’s. Not a bad day for L.A.

Fisher, who turns 38 in August, was averaging 5.9 points and 3.3 assists per game as the Lakers’ starter this season. He played only 25.6 minutes per game, often subbing out in crunch time for Steve Blake.

Hill was averaging 5.0 points and 4.8 rebounds off the bench for Houston. He should make an immediate impact in L.A. as a suitable backup for Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol.

Houston Rockets forward Jordan Hill injured his right knee in practice today, according to the Associated Press. He is expected to miss at least two weeks.

Hill’s injury is a sprained MCL in his right knee, according to Dr. Walter Lowe.

The second-year big man is averaging 5.0 points and 4.9 rebounds per game for the Rockets this season.

Houston’s first game without Hill comes tomorrow night, when the Rockets host the Utah Jazz at the Toyota Center.