Kobe Bryant in a wrist injury scare before warm-up repeat against Los Angeles Clippers – NBA Update
In what was the first sign of a power shift in Los Angeles, the Clippers cut the Los Angeles Lakers down to size in a pre-season warm-up on Sunday night. The Clips, marshalled by their new star acquisition Chris Paul, were relentless
throughout the game and blew away in the third quarter to record an emphatic 114-95 win.
On Wednesday night though, the Lakers do have a chance to redeem themselves, but they probably will have to do it without Kobe Bryant.
Kobe was injured early in the third quarter, when an attempted layup was rejected by the Clippers centre DeAndre Jordan. Bryant hit the floor hard and in attempt to protect himself with the hands, injured the right one. He did
not return to the game.
Lakers new head coach Mike Brown however is hopeful that his ace shooting will be back for the game-2.
"He practiced," said coach Mike Brown. "He went through the contact part of practice and then, eventually I just had him sit down. I think he's fine."
If Kobe fails to make it on Wednesday, it will further worsen the injury situation for the Lakers. The Lakers are already thin at the wings, with small forward Devin Ebanks on day to day courtesy a sore right foot. They also suffered
a blow at the point guard position on Monday after Steve Blake hurt his right knee in a collision with his opposite number, Chris Paul.
Blake is also day to day and if he fails to be fit in time for the Clippers game, Brown might just be forced to use veteran PG Derek Fisher, who was not played in the last game;
"There's a chance I might play him (Wednesday)," Brown said of Fisher. "I put him out on the floor for some contact stuff (Tuesday) for the first time, so I might throw him out there (Wednesday) for a little bit based on how he
feels after shootaround."
All in all, the situation does not bode well for the Lakers after being exposed in the first game and the onus will now be on Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol to lift the team come Wednesday night.
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