The Los Angeles Lakers are going to be without Kobe Bryant for the next six weeks and it could be longer depending on how things go and that means he will not be in the lineup on Friday when the team hosts the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Staples Center in an ESPN game starting up at 10:30 pm and streaming on WatchESPN.
The Lakers come into the game under .500 with a 12-13 record and they will be looking to push up in the Pacific division and the western conference and they are facing off against a team in the Timberwolves that they could be battling for a playoff spot at the end of the season. The Lakers have had tons of injury issues, but they have been able to tread water so far without Steve Nash, Steve Blake and Jordan Farmar and now they will be without Kobe. The team signed Kendall Marshall to help tide things over, but that will still make it tough for the Lakers, as Bryant could be sidelined for at least a month.
The team has reportedly taken Pau Gasol off of the trading block and that is good news for the team, as he is their only star left right now and he will have even more pressure to get things done in LA. The team is coming off of a nice win against the Grizzlies that saw Bryant score 21 points and Gasol snag nine rebounds, but now Bryant will be out for some time and many said that he may have come back too fast from his Achilles injury, but doctors said one did not have to do with the other apart from his body possibly compensating a bit with his joints.
The Lakers are playing the Golden State Warriors next on the road at Oracle Arena on Saturday night in the second of a back to back and the team comes in ranked 15th in scoring and 29th in points allowed. The Timberwolves are 13-13 on the season and they are coming off of a big win against the NBA-best Trail Blazers 120-109 and they will next play against the Clippers at the Staples Center on Sunday, meaning they can hang around town for a while and Kevin Love can go workout at UCLA and take in a Bruins game.
The Timberwolves have been great on offense, ranking in the top 10 in scoring, rebounding and assists per game and they are scoring over 105 per contest. The game on Friday night will get started up at 10:30 pm on ESPN.