Pau Gasol's health was a constant headline in 2013. The Los Angeles Lakers forward struggled heavily with numerous injuries that left his play inconsistent at best. As the 2013-14 season approaches, the Lakers will rely on Gasol as a key member of the game plan, but only if he is healthy. As Steve Nash becomes more questionable by the day, Gasol admits he is better than ever.
Gasol had procedures on both knees during the offseason. The Lakers were unsure if he could even be healthy come the season opener. However, the forward is back to practice and is now leading the team in scoring during the preseason.
"I feel better than what I expected," Gasol said, via ESPNLosAngeles.com. "I'm really happy with how I feel right now. Now it's just a matter of we have a tough start, very demanding, a lot of games in a short period of time to start off. But hey, that's what the NBA is about sometimes and you got to get through it."
The return of Gasol came at the right time for the Lakers. As Kobe Bryant is already an expected scratch for start of the year, Nash is now not likely to be as active as once thought. The Nash signing in Los Angeles has yet to truly pay off. The point guard suffered through a broken leg and hip and groin injuries last season. Now, he is even more limited during the preseason, leaving head coach Mike D'Antoni to consider counting Nash out for back-to-back games.
D'Antoni is considering not having Nash play the second half of games in the early part of the season if the team has another game the following day. The Lakers are trying to keep the point guard as healthy as they possibly can when he is needed for the second half of the season.
"It's hard to make a definitive answer right now because if one of my other point guards tweaks his ankle, he's playing," D'Antoni. "If one guy has the sniffles, he's playing. So, we'll see how the team goes and we'll see where we are -- where we are in the schedule, where we are in the standings -- and see how he does. But the idea is to cut down the number of games and keep the minutes consistent for him, but the number of games come down."
The Lakers have 19 sets of back-to-back games during the season. Not having Nash during a lot of those games could be detrimental. D'Antoni confirmed that Nash would play against the Clippers. While he did not address the situation to reporters, Nash said he is simply focused on one game at a time.
"I just look at the first one and see how it goes," Nash said. "Who knows, right? I think you have to be open to anything, but for me, I am just preparing for that first game of the year. I want to have a great game and then see what happens after that."
