The Los Angeles Lakers play in Phoenix tonight and will be looking for their seventh win in nine games. More importantly, tonight was supposed to mark the return of Pau Gasol to the Lakers’ lineup.
Gasol unfortunately broke the news this evening that he will not be making his return tonight in Phoenix, but will be back on the court soon.
With the Lakers finally rolling (albiet by stockpiling wins against lower-tier teams) and within a half game of the Houston Rockets for the 7th seed in the Western Conference, it begs the question: should the Lakers rush Gasol back?
“I don’t want to put any dates out there, so there are no disappointments or surprises,” Gasol told the Los Angeles Times.
When Gasol suffered a foot injury on February 5th in Brooklyn, he was diagnosed with a return date of 6-8 weeks, but many thought he would be lucky to be back by the start of April. In the three games before Gasol was injured he averaged 20 points and 8.7 rebounds. Let’s not forget these were high-pressure games without Dwight Howard.
It was announced late last week that Gasol would suit up for tonight’s game against the Suns, but when Gasol experienced pain in his injured foot after a two-on-two game in practice Saturday, his status for tonight became uncertain.
While the sample size is small, the Lakers other two stars — Steve Nash and Dwight Howard — have been flourishing in Kobe and Pau’s absence. Their key numbers that have been down all season — assists for Nash, points for Dwight — have been up. Nash has 21 assists in the two games Kobe’s missed with a sprained left ankle.
And the role players are stepping up. Antawn Jamison had a season-high 27 points last night against the Kings. Early Clark chipped in 11, Steve Blake had 16 and Metta World Peace had 22.
It’s obvious that Gasol isn’t 100 percent, and if that is the case, the Lakers should not rush him back.
For the Lakers, chemistry is as important as ever right now with Kobe and Pau sidelined. After tonight’s game against the Suns, the Lakers will have three off days before playing the Wizards, Warriors and Timberwolves. For any team playing well, these are all winnable games.
Even without Bryant, and as the Lakers have proven as of late, without Gasol as well.
Ben Baroff is a basketball journalist who blogs for SheridanHoops.com. Follow him on Twitter here.