Fresh off a five-game losing streak, the Los Angeles Lakers are due a bit of good news, and the team received just that ahead of Sunday's game.
Guard D'Angelo Russell managed to go through an entire Saturday session and is considered "questionable" for Sunday's game against the New York Knicks, after originally being listed as "Out."
Russell has missed 12 games with a sore knee, and the Lakers have lost nine of those 12 games. Not helping the purple and gold is the fact that backup point guard Jose Calderon and starting shooting guard Nick Young have also been sidelined with injuries, so Lakers coach Luke Walton has been forced to shift lineups constantly in an attempt to fill the void.
Thus far, the injuries have been too overwhelming, and the Lakers have dropped five games below .500, even struggling to compete at times. Even against the Phoenix Suns at home on Friday night, the Lakers started slow and fell behind by as many as 18 points before rallying to ultimately lose by four points.
Getting Russell back would instantly improve the offense on the Lakers' first unit, as the 20-year-old is averaging 16.1 points and 4.8 assists in 13 starts during the 2016-17 season. Prior to Russell first missing a game with the affliction on Nov. 18, the Lakers stormed out to a 7-6 start to the season with big wins over the Golden State Warriors and Houston Rockets. Without Russell, the Lakers lost to the Warriors twice by an average of 33.5 points, while the Rockets beat the short-handed Lakers by 39 points on Wednesday night in Houston.
LA misses Russell, but it appears that he should be back for the Lakers' upcoming road trip.
While Calderon is still sidelined, Young also appears close to a comeback from his calf strain. While the 31-year-old is not in contention to play on Sunday at Staples Center, Young should return at some point during the Lakers' seven-game road trip, which launches on Monday night in Sacramento and stops in Brooklyn, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Charlotte, Miami and Orlando before the Lakers come back home for a Christmas night date with the Los Angeles Clippers.
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On Saturday, Young also went through the entire practice.
Another injury to keep an eye on is forward Julius Randle, who missed a game with a hip pointer injury earlier in the season. After Friday's loss, the 22-year-old forward revealed that he had hurt his opposite hip pointer a couple games earlier and that a hard fall at the end of Friday's game re-aggravated the injury. Randle is also listed as "questionable" for Sunday's game, but the physical forward insisted that he would not miss games because his team needed him.
If Randle does miss time, Walton is likely to start Thomas Robinson and leave Larry Nance Jr. with the second unit. Robinson has been an asset for the Lakers on the boards and with regards to energy. With Tarik Black also sidelined due to an ankle sprain, Robinson has seen increased minutes in recent games. The 25-year-old started in place of Randle the last time the forward missed a game due to injury.
Sunday’s game against the Knicks offers the Lakers a tough Eastern Conference opponent that has won five of its last six games, with the only loss over that stretch coming against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Carmelo Anthony is averaging 22.8 points, while second-year seven-foot sensation Kristaps Porzingis is averaging 19.7 points per game. Former MVP Derrick Rose is listed as day-to-day but did take part in Saturday's practice after missing two games with a back injury.
Having Russell back to matchup against Rose would go a long way for the Lakers to have a fighting chance on Sunday and for the general entertainment value of the Sunday showdown.
The Lakers and Knicks tip-off at 6:30 p.m. Pacific Time at Staples Center.
