After enjoying a week off for the All-Star break, head coach Byron Scott wasted no time getting the Lakers back up to speed in their first practice before the final stretch of the season.
“We all knew it was coming, but it was next level today,” Jeremy Lin said.
The practice, which Lin likened to the first day of training camp, was an exhausting one that ended with a series of timed suicide sprints.
“I told them after the Portland game (Feb. 11) to get some work in,” Scott said. “‘Don’t come back here without doing anything for a week.’ And (I’m) pretty happy with the way they worked today.”
Sitting at 13-40, the Lakers now head into the last leg of the season with only 29 games remaining. Scott has already made two major changes to his starting lineup this year, and he hinted that another is quickly approaching.
“With 25 (games) left or maybe a little bit less than that, I’ll probably make another lineup change,” Scott said. “Just to give some other guys some time to just go out there and show what they could do as well. So I do expect probably one more — at least — lineup change.”
Injury Updates
Wayne Ellington missed Wednesday’s practiced due to gastroenteritis. Though Scott said he expects Ellington to start against the Brooklyn Nets on Friday, he is officially listed as questionable.
“I just talked to (head athletic trainer) Gary (Vitti) earlier before we got into practice,” Scott said. “He just said (Ellington) wouldn’t be here today. We’ll see how he feels tomorrow.”
Meanwhile, Nick Young (left peroneal tendon strain) and Jordan Hill (hip flexor strain) both practiced fully. Young suffered his injury against Portland in L.A.’s final game before the break, while Hill’s sidelined him for the Lakers’ last five contests.
“Both looked good today,” Scott said. “Both were a little winded. They had some time off, obviously because of injuries. But Jordan ran up and down the floor pretty well today. I think he’ll probably be a little bit sore tomorrow. … But I thought both of them didn’t show any ill effects (from) the injuries prior to All-Star Weekend.”