Los Angeles Lakers Take a Hit to Their Lineup Ahead of Tip-Off Against the Oklahoma City Thunder

The Los Angeles Lakers take on Oklahoma City Thunder in their next seeding game. In a matter of hours, the purple and gold will step out on the court and attempt to record their third victory inside the bubble.

In the win against Jazz, the team did not report any player to have taken a major knock. However, a new name has emerged on the Lakers’ injury list. 

As per Harrison Faigen of Silver Screen & Roll, Dwight Howard is now being listed as questionable for the upcoming game due to a sore right knee. Faigen also reports that Howard was not on the injury list yesterday. 

34-year-old Howard has been a regular contributor from the bench for the Lakers this season. Though he might not be in his prime where he scored more than 20 points per game, Howard is still a valuable asset to have.

The eight-time NBA All-Star has suited well with the Lakers in his second-stint. 

Will Los Angeles Lakers coach Frank Vogel risk playing Howard in the next game?

Howard’s reported lack of fitness is due to a sore right knee. Thus, it means that Coach Vogel will probably rest him for the game against OKC to fast-track his recovery process.

Moreover, the Lakers have clinched the #1 seed in their conference. So there is no pressure for Howard to necessarily participate in this game. 

However, when Frank Vogel addressed the media yesterday, he informed that he does not have any plans of playing it easy for the remaining seeding games. Vogel admitted that his players are still continuing to find their rhythm inside the bubble. 

Vogel mentioned that he will continue to play his starters in the upcoming games. However, Howard experiencing issues with his knee will probably change his plans for the near future. Risking Howard on the court will do the team no good. 

Howard has featured for the Lakers in all three seeding games so far. He’s played an average of 15 minutes in these games and has managed to score 5.6 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.

We might see the Lakers playing without Howard against Thunder just to give his knee some more time to recover. 

SOURCE: 1. Harrison Faigen – Twitter,  2. Harrison Faigen – Twitter,  Dwight Howard – Basketball Reference