Before Lakers All-Star big man Anthony Davis returned to the court tonight for the first time in two months, Kyle Goon of The Southern California News Group noted that the team would have to make significant rotational adjustments to its closing lineup.
“It’s gonna be some people who [are] playing well right now, playing a lot of minutes, those minutes get shifted just from the dynamic of having [Davis and eventually LeBron James] out there,” said L.A. forward Kyle Kuzma.
The closing lineup will not be affected just yet, however. Lakers head coach Frank Vogel has indicated that Davis, on a strict 15-minute limit at present, will play all of his minutes in the first half of tonight’s game against the Mavericks, Mark Medina of USA Today tweets.
There’s more out of California:
- Kings center Richaun Holmes has returned to basketball activities as he continues to recover from a strained right hamstring, per Sean Cunningham of ABC10 (KXTV) Sacramento (via Twitter).
- The fractured fourth metacarpal left hand injury that has kept Kings big man Marvin Bagley III out for a month has healed, according to a team press release. Bagley is hoping to return to the court for Sacramento next week as the team continues to make a play-in push, tweets Sam Amick of The Athletic.
- New Clippers point guard Yogi Ferrell has been making the most of his 10-day contract, showcasing his instinctive passing and speed in his first game with L.A., writes Mirjam Swanson of the Orange County Register. The six-footer hopes to remain on the playoff-bound squad beyond his initial deal.
Just saw that former UK player and projected 2nd round pick Terrence Clarke was killed in a single car accident at age 19 tonight. Just goes to show that no matter how much these guys have going for them, they are really just as fragile as the rest of us. RIP young man.
I read that AD missed 30 gms. Has it really been that long. That is a lot of gms. With Bron still out. It just seems it’s gonna take awhile for Lakers to become real good again. Only 10 gms from playoffs.
He played 15 minutes in the first half and was not good. He has missed 35 games so far, and with 4 B2B’s next month he should miss at least 4 more.
Not a gd game. Only first gm back. Worse another loss, to Mavs. Who made up ground. Lakers are in battle with Mavs and Blazers for seeding. So at best it can be Nuggets in 1st rd. Or at worse it could be Clippers or Suns in 1st rd. It will be a series, and not 100%. Doesn’t help one bit.
When is Bron due back ????
Dallas is hosting the Lakers again on Saturday in front of a national TV audience and a result like tonight’s game will put them only 1.5 games behind LA for the #5 seed. Since AD got hurt on Valentine’s Day his team has barely been treading water going 14-18 after being in first place at 21-6. LeBron won’t be back until right before the playoffs begin and the Lakers might be relegated to the play-in tournament by then. Things are looking quite bleak in Tinseltown.
Lebron should miss a couple playoff games just for people who say he’s faking it and will bounce right back in time for the playoffs.
He likely remembers what happened to Durant & Klay as a caution… they beat him two or three times.
Who knows when a high ankle is ready.
But not as bleak as things in H-Town
Imagine writing off AD after his first game back from injury, in a game where he played 15 minutes…this is why nobody takes anything you post seriously lol
Rest management
Embiid has wrist, shoulder and knee injury
Should 76ers rest Embiid 3 of the final 10 games
I know Sillivan doesn’t understand English. Does Sillivan really believe that Joel Embiid can miraculously overcome injuries.