The Lakers are banged up heading into the weekend’s games, but the good news is that none of the injuries look to be as bad as they initially seemed.
Quentin Grimes has missed the last two games with a right finger sprain, but he seems to be heading in the right direction. He said that he’s feeling good and plans to play on Sunday against the Suns, according to Lakers reporter Jovan Buha (Twitter link).
“The swelling has gone down a lot, it’s basically down to normal,” Grimes said of dealing with the injury to his shooting hand, per Mark Medina (Twitter video link).
Despite the star point guard suffering a scary-looking fall in the Lakers’ last game, head coach JJ Redick said that Luka Doncic is “fine” and also expects to play on Sunday, Buha notes (via Twitter). Collin Sexton is day-to-day after getting stitches over his eye.
Austin Reaves is also considered day-to-day with a bruised left heel after he landed awkwardly during Wednesday’s contest with the Bucks. He underwent X-rays at the arena that came back clean, writes Dave McMenamin for ESPN and the team and the player jointly decided that further imaging was not necessary.
We have more injury news from around the league:
- Evan Mobley was ruled out for the Cavaliers’ matchup against the Heat on Friday with a left great toe sprain, which he suffered at the end of Wednesday’s contest against the Knicks, but the team got good news when his MRI came back clean, Chris Fedor writes for Cleveland.com. “It’s a sprain, so he’s definitely sore and all that, but we don’t expect it to be a long-term thing at all,” coach Kenny Atkinson said.
- The Nets should be able to see their young backcourt at full strength soon, as Nolan Traore has been listed as probable for Saturday’s game after missing the previous contest with right calf soreness, Brian Lewis notes for the New York Post (Twitter link). Mikel Brown Jr.who also missed the last game, is questionable due to illness. Ben Saraf will remain on assignment with the Long Island Nets.
- Yves Missi has been cleared by the Pelicans’ medical staff to resume on-court activities after a bruise to his left knee has kept him sidelined since the second game of the season, Rod Walker writes for NOLA.com. He went through a light practice on Thursday and was encouraged by the results. “I’m feeling pretty good,” Missi said. “The past two days I’ve been running and jumping.” There is still no timeline for his return, according to coach Jamahl Mosley, as the team is waiting to see how he responds to the increased workload.
- Jimmy Butler is progressing in his rehab from a torn ACL, and while he’s not ready to return yet, he already has a plan of action that involves spending at least one game with the Warriors’ G League affiliate in Santa Cruz, Pratham Valluri writes for NBC Sports Bay Area. Coach Steve Kerr agreed with the decision and praised Butler for making it. “I think it makes such perfect sense,” Kerr said. “But most guys in the league in Jimmy’s position are, like, too vain to do it — and Jimmy’s the opposite. I think he would love giving the fans down there a great surprise. That’s amazing. I love that.”