Despite being hampered by a pair of injures, Kobe Bryant (sore right shoulder and sore right Achilles) will likely play in the Lakers’ home tilt with Sacramento on Tuesday.
Head coach Byron Scott said that Bryant “is a go” for the matchup with the Kings, but called Larry Nance Jr. “very doubtful.”
Nance missed Sunday’s game against Houston with a sore right knee. Scott envisions the rookie sitting out Los Angeles’ next two games in order to “strengthen” and “stabilize” his knee before possibly returning at Portland on Saturday.
“We’ve just got to give him some time,” Scott said at Tuesday’s practice. “I think the more that we have him out there playing, the more it’s going to be an issue for the rest of this season.”
In Nance’s stead, Julius Randle will return to the starting lineup, where he is averaging 11.7 points on 43.6 percent shooting in 21 games, compared to 9.5 points on a 37.2 percent clip in the same sample size.
“If (Randle) plays 20-25 minutes, he’s almost a walking double-double,” Scott said. “He has been able to do that all season long.”
Backing that up, Randle collected 12 points and 11 rebounds in 26 minutes during Sunday’s game — hist first start in about five weeks. But Nance had also been providing valuable minutes as a starter prior to his injury.
“I’m not gonna speculate whether he’s gonna start when Larry gets back,” Scott said. “It obviously depends on how long Larry’s out and when can he get back. But I just want Julius to continue to grow and play the way he’s playing.”
Meanwhile, Randle downplayed the effect that starting has for him.
“I’m just happy to be playing basketball,” he said.