The Lakers received some much-needed injury news at Tuesday’s practice, as starting small forward Brandon Ingram was a full participant.
It was a light practice (considering the Lakers are playing every other day through Jan. 23), and mainly consisted of shooting drills and five-on-zero runthroughs.
But coach Luke Walton said Ingram — who missed Tuesday’s game due to a contusion on his right quad and tendinitis in his left quad — showed good explosion when practice did call for more dynamic movement.
“I almost silly-fined him for looking so good today for not playing last night,” Walton joked.
Ingram is listed as questionable for Wednesday’s game against Memphis, and will see how his quads feel after shootaround that morning.
He said the soreness of his quads has been the toughest part of his ailments, and will try to adjust his postgame routine accordingly.
“I think I’ll pay more attention to … recovering after games, especially on these games where we play every other day,” Ingram said.
The Lakers could certainly use Ingram back in the lineup.
He scores the team’s second-most points (16.0), largely off of drives to the hoop, which have become his trademark.
Lately, he has used that slashing ability to make plays for teammates, averaging 4.2 assists in his last five weeks.
And the Lakers could use someone to run the offense with Lonzo Ball — owner of the seventh-highest assists average in the NBA (7.1) — out due to a left shoulder sprain.