Lonzo Ball missed his second-straight game for the Pelicans during their current road trip on Friday against the Lakers with his knee injury. Officially, Ball has been listed with bilateral knee tendinopathy, a muscular injury to both knees.
On Saturday, New Orleans head coach Stan Van Gundy provided another update on Ball, who did not practice but is getting closer to a return.
“He says he feels a lot better. (He’s) really working hard on strengthening the muscles around that knee which seems to really help. I think he’s pretty optimistic about being able to come at full strength and pretty optimistic that’s (his return) is not in the distant, distant future. I think we’re talking more days to a week than we are weeks.”
Ball’s status has been considered day-to-day since he missed Wednesday’s game with the injury. The Pelicans’ road trip extends through next Saturday with four more games against the Kings on Sunday and the Jazz on Tuesday and Thursday before wrapping up in Minnesota.