The Los Angeles Lakers are dealing with a number of injuries to top name players with Steve Nash and Kobe Bryant out of the lineup and as they get ready for the New Orleans Pelicans at the STAPLES Center on Tuesday night at 10:30 pm, they are hoping the point guard is not out for the long haul.
The Lakers came into the season with high expectations despite losing Dwight Howard in free agency and now that Bryant still remains out with his Achilles injury, the team needs to pull together even more with Nash down for at least two weeks. Some reports had him worried that he could miss the rest of the season, but after consulting some specialists, they said that it could be about two weeks and that is welcome news for the Lakers, as they have a tough early schedule and the team needs him on the court, especially with Bryant out. Nash is one of the key players for the team along with Pau Gasol and with Bryant still having no idea when he will return to the court, it could be a very long season in Los Angeles and the team had a bad loss over the weekend to the Timberwolves.
Nash had to leave the game against Minnesota with some time left in the second quarter and the team eventually lost the matchup by over 20 and now he could be out for a couple weeks with a back issue. Nash had three assists in the game and two points in just 13 minutes of play and he will get reevaluated by medical personnel soon and that could help him get back onto the court sooner if he heals up a bit. Nash said that he has been dealing with pain since the season started and the 39-year-old was expecting some discomfort, but not at the level he was dealing with and now he could be on the sidelines for a while if he doesn't start to recover soon.
This season Nash has been unable to get into a rhythm and he has missed two games already from the eight the team has played while averaging just 6.7 points and 4.8 assists and his health may dictate how the rest of the year goes for the Lakers. Gasol is obviously a huge part along with Bryant and if he can get back on the court soon that will be a huge boost for the team.
The Lakers next will play the Nuggets on the road after playing the Pelicans and losing to the Wolves and they are now 3-5 and will need to start turning things around quickly to hang in the Pacific division and the western conference overall, as teams like the Clippers, Thunder, Rockets, Spurs and Grizzlies all appear better than them. The defense is terrible and has been ranked 28th in the league and the scoring is at 18th ranked with 97 points per game. The team is ranked in the top five in rebounds per game and 11th in assists, but overall the team needs to play much batter and with Nash hurt that could be tough.
