Lakers Handing It to Opposition
Laker hand injuries leading to some bad nights.
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OAKLAND, CA - MARCH 15: Derek Fisher #2 of the Los Angeles Lakers celebrates with teammates against the Golden State Warriors during an NBA game at Oracle Arena on March 15, 2010 in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)
Little-known fact: Basketball is a hard sport to play with injured hands.
Okay, not-so-little-known fact. Actually, pretty obvious. But something that has been overlooked as five Lakers have hand injuries just as the team has struggled with turnovers and sloppy offense in recent games. Coincidence?
It's not a fact lost on Phil Jackson, however.
Five players are dealing with them this season, the Lakers using enough adhesive tape and pre-wrap on fingers and thumbs to stock a small sporting goods store.
"It takes quite a while for a hand injury to heal," Jackson said ominously. "It'll take a while for all these guys to get over it, maybe a summer. Some of these guys may need an operation in the off-season."
The most publicized of the injuries is the avulsion fracture to the index finger on Kobe's right -- that's shooting -- hand. Avulsion fractures mean when a ligament pulled off from the bone, it took a little bit of bone with it. That hurts about as much as it sounds like. But Kobe has found a way to play through it and now is pretty much at the level he was at all season long.
But the other finger injuries are all to guys who handle the ball a lot. Lamar Odom tapes the middle and index fingers on his right hand together after the fingers were sprained a couple months back. Shannon Brown has a sprained thumb. Ron Artest has a sprained thumb. Jordan Farmar has a sprained left pinky.
What you see now is more nights like Monday night, where the Lakers had 24 turnovers against Golden State -- that was 23 percent of their possessions on the night. Nearly one in four trips down the court resulted in a turnover. That's what keeps a lesser team like Golden State hanging around.
In the Lakers last 10 games, Kobe Bryant is averaging nearly four turnovers a game. That's higher than his season average. The only time in his career he was close to that number was the 2004-05 season, the season after Shaq was traded and Kobe had to be Mr. Everything for the team.
The turnover problems come and go -- Golden State made it worse by gambling for them a lot. But in the playoffs, one of those turnover-happy nights could cost the Lakers a lot more. Injuries are part of the game at this point in the season.
The Lakers just need to get a handle on them. And the ball.
Kurt Helin lives in Los Angeles and is the managing editor of NBC's NBA blog Pro Basketball Talk (which you can also follow in twitter).
