Remember when Metta World Peace went down with his knee injury all the way back on Monday? Laker fans were thinking, “Can there be any more injuries this season, seriously?”
Well, apparently, yes, there can be more injuries.
After Thursday's ugly loss in Milwaukee, Kobe Bryant hobbled away on crutches due to a bone spur in his left foot that flared up after the game.
Bryant missed two games with the sprain to the same ankle earlier this month, and he has been far from perfect since returning to the team. The injury has likely bothered Bryant since returning, and the Lakers have hardly looked like a contender the past five games. Due to a tight race for the playoffs, the Lakers have not had the luxury to rest their long-time franchise player.
Even more depressing, Bryant was not the only Laker who came away injured in Thursday’s ugly loss. Ask the gods if things can get worse, and surely, they will prove that they can.
Steve Nash had hip spasms and had a hamstring issue that kept him out for most of the second half of Thursday’s game.
Prior to the injury, Nash played one of his best halves as a Laker controlling the pace of the game and putting up 14 points and five assists on 4-6 shooting from the field. Even more impressive, Nash only had one turnover.
However, the injury limited Nash to fewer than seven minutes in the third quarter before he was forced into the locker room area and shut it down for the remainder of the game. During those injured six minutes and forty-seven seconds in the third quarter, Nash committed three turnovers and looked like a different player than the guy who was running the show in the first half.
Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni told the media that Nash was willing to re-enter the game in the fourth quarter, but the coach made the difficult decision to leave his 39-year-old point guard on the sidelines.
“I got a spasm in my hip and [tight] hamstring,” Nash said after the game. “It actually happened at Golden State and the hamstring tightened up. And then at Minnesota, I was compensating for the hamstring and I got my hip spasm-ing.”
Nash was optimistic about playing on Saturday, and even being available to talk to reporters was a positive sign on such a dark night. Normally, talking to the media after games in not in doubt, but Bryant had a rare night when he was receiving treatment and the Lakers’ PR staff informed reporters that he would not be available.
Bryant will be reexamined on Friday with hopes to play on Saturday at Sacramento, as the [injured] Lake Show hobbles on.
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