Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Lakers: NBA teams depleted by injuries --- Part 3
Indiana Pacers
Indiana Pacers have not been affected by injuries to multiple players like the most teams we have discussed so far but they have been hit hard by the loss of their top scorer Danny Granger and they have had a quiet season so far.
Granger has been out of action since November with a left patellar tendinitis and the Pacers have suffered a lot without their prime shooter.
They rank 28th this season in the scoring department, and their points per game average is way lower than their last year average of 97.7 points per game.
At the end of the day it’s the baskets that win the games, and the Pacers have been struggling a lot lately because of that. Even though David West and Paul George are trying their best for the Pacers but their season won’t change
much till Granger returns.
And Indiana are waiting desperately for his return.
Los Angeles Lakers
The star studded team has been struggling to find their groove this season and have a disappointing start to the season by any one’s standards let alone the mighty Lakers standards. They have their issues with the change of the
coaching staff in the form of Mike D’ Antoni taking over the helm of affairs midway through the season. With him implementing a new offence system at Los Angeles which the Lakers are finding it hard to come to grips with.
Truth be told one of the prime reasons he was preferred over Phil Jackson for the coaching job was that he will have guard Steve Nash at his disposal here at the Lakers. He ran his offence with great results at the Phoenix Suns
with Nash running the show on the court.
Nash remains sidelined and has not been able to play any part in their campaign so far. Guard Steve Blake is also sidelined for long with an injury and Pau Gasol had been on and off this season.
With the likes of Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard and Pau Gasol on the same team there is no reason why they should not be winning more. Antoni has repeatedly stressed that Lakers need Nash to be fit as soon as possible and according
to him his absence has been the main reason for the Lakers poor showing so far.
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