Tag: Alex Caruso

Report: Rajon Rondo (hamstring) out Sunday vs. Timberwolves

Rajon Rondo will miss Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves after leaving Friday’s game against Portland early.

The Los Angeles Lakers are back home for just one night before they head out East for their longest road trip of the season, starting Wednesday night in Orlando. When they do so, they will have an even lighter backcourt than they’re used to when they host Karl-Anthony Towns, Andrew Wiggins and the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Wiggins and Towns have played well together this season, winning several close games and pushing themselves to a 10-11 record, good for seventh place in the Eastern Conference. But as the Lakers prepare to host the Timberwolves, they’ll be without Rajon Rondo (hamstring) in addition to already being without Avery Bradley once again, according to Silver Screen and Roll’s Harrison Faigen.

The Lakers have been rolling throughout the course of the entire season and being cautious with injuries, especially for veterans like Bradley and Rondo, is the smartest way to manage a stable of talent that looks just a little more weathered than others.

LeBron James leads offense, Davis leads on defense to win at Nuggets

LeBron James and Anthony Davis made big plays down the stretch to hold off a Nuggets come back to get the Los Angeles Lakers another win.

The Los Angeles Lakers didn’t shoot all that well and they looked like they were in trouble at times, but their superstars made huge plays late to show once again that they are the class of the Western Conference through the first quarter of the season.

Anthony Davis had 25 points and 10 rebounds while LeBron James had 24 points and nine assists, but the two stars made the key plays late after the Nuggets pushed them down the stretch.

James came through with a huge putback dunk on a miss by Davis to put the Lakers up 112-106 with just over a minute left in Tuesday’s win. The Lakers also made several key stops in the final few possessions, with Davis–who entered the game with flu-like symptoms–stoning the Nuggets three times at the rim in the final few minutes and also doing an excellent job on star center Nikola Jokic (13 points, 4-12, five turnovers, eight assists).

The Lakers started out hot and ended the first half with the same conviction, as the starters for the Lakers pushed them to a 60-49 lead at halftime of their showdown against the Nuggets. After hearing questions about their schedule in the first 20 games, the Lakers responded with one of their best halves of basketball on both ends so far this season.

But the Nuggets, being a very tough team in their own right, fought back to turn this early December showdown of the two best teams in the West into a regular season classic.

But the Lakers don’t have much time to rest as they will get on a plane shortly after the game as they head to Salt Lake City to face the Utah Jazz for the second night of a back-to-back.

 

Avery Bradley (hairline fracture) out for at least another week

The Los Angeles Lakers starting guard for 10 games this season will miss their upcoming four-game road trip.

The Los Angeles Lakers are heading out on their first long road trip of the season without a key piece of their team and a starting player for 10 games early in the season.

Avery Bradley, who was expected to miss one-to-two weeks with a hairline fracture in his leg, will miss the team’s upcoming four-game road trip, after which he will be evaluated, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.

Perhaps making things easier on Bradley and giving him more time to recover has been the phenomenal play of late from shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. Pope has been a monster on both ends as of later, bringing phenomenal ball pressure along with some high-level shot-making. KCP is averaging 14 points on 63% shooting from the field and 54.5% from the 3-point line.

With Bradley out, KCP will likely continue to get the start while Rajon Rondo and Alex Caruso will provide the guard depth behind him. Rondo looked excellent in Tuesday’s win and Caruso has been solid all season, coupled with Caldwell-Pope’s excellent play, Bradley and the Lakers have the luxury to take the time to heal. At this time last year, such luxuries for the Lakers were unthinkable. What a difference a year can make.

Lakers’ Danny Green gets drug-tested by NBA after monster dunk vs. Hawks

Los Angeles Lakers sharpshooter, Danny Green, gets drug-tested by NBA after monster dunk vs. Atlanta Hawks.

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Los Angeles Lakers sharpshooter Danny Green doesn’t dunk too often. So when he does finish high above the rim, people take notice. On Sunday, Green offered a Dominque Wilkins impression during the Lakers 122-101 win over the Atlanta Hawks that brought the Staples Center crowd to their feet. Then, on Monday–after his first dunk of the season–the NBA issued Green a random drug test.

During the play that got the internet buzzing, the ball bounced around the perimeter for the Lakers before LeBron James collected it and attempted a 3-pointer near the top of the key. The shot missed long, and Green came crashing in from the right wing for a putback dunk that got his teammates fired up.

Maybe it was an entirely random occurrence–or maybe it was in response to the display of unusual athleticism–but after Green’s dunk made its way around the internet, the NBA issued him a random drug test. Green took to Twitter to joke about the coincidence after being notified of the test.

“Catch one dunk and get drug tested” Green tweeted. “Surprise, surprise.”

One Laker who was most likely not surprised about Green’s random drug test was Alex Caruso. In September, after photoshopped images of a jacked-up Caruso went viral on social media, the Lakers guard was similarly drug-tested by the NBA. So either both drug tests were entirely random, or all eyes are locked on the Lakers right now–even those in the league office.

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LeBron James hits clutch free throws to put Lakers past Kings

The Los Angeles Lakers earned their third straight victory thanks to 29 points and 11 assists from LeBron James on Friday night.

LeBron James had 29 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to their third-straight victory — a 99-97 win over the Sacramento Kings on Friday night. Thanks to a valiant effort from an undermanned but energetic Kings squad, the Lakers barely escaped.

Seven straight points from Bogdan Bogdanovic brought the Kings to 97-97 with just under 20 seconds left, leaving the Lakers and James with the final possession. The Kings’ Harrison Barnes was called for a reach-in foul on James with 5.5 seconds left. James made both free throws, leading to a final play for the Kings. Barnes couldn’t convert on the final lay-up attempt to send the game to overtime, however, thanks to an incredible defensive stop by Anthony Davis.

For much of the early going in Friday’s matchup, the Lakers appeared a little sluggish. But the Lakers closed the half with a fury, capped off by a dunk from James over Kings forward Nemanja Bjelica. Following the half, the Lakers rode that momentum and amassed a four-point lead after three quarters.

James was the catalyst for the Lakers all night long, scoring more than usual while assisting at his regular league-leading rate. With Davis back in the lineup, James once again enjoyed an efficient source of assists offensively and the safety blanket defensively that The Brow provides.

Still, even though the two stars played well, they were unable to pull away from a scrappy Kings team that came into Friday having won four of their last five games. The Kings had a lead midway through the fourth quarter, putting the Lakers on their heels on their home court.

James came out firing in the early going of the final period.

Up by three points, James missed a 3-pointer for the Lakers and then Howard was called for a loose-ball foul with 3:54 remaining. Richaun Holmes made two free throws to cut the lead to one, which was followed by a Lakers basket.

The Kings went to Holmes again, who was guarded by Alex Caruso, but drew a three-point play on LeBron James to tie the game at 90 with 3:25 left. A 3-pointer by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who had a huge fourth quarter, put the Lakers ahead. Caldwell-Pope had scored four points after three quarters but finished with 16 points.

 

 

Avery Bradley out at least 1-2 weeks with hairline fracture in leg

After getting Rajon Rondo back this week, the Los Angeles Lakers continue to deal with other injuries in their backcourt.

Just when it seemed like the Los Angeles Lakers were entering a healthier stage of their season, they’ve lost a key member of their backcourt for at least a couple of weeks.

The Lakers announced on Friday morning that an MRI on starting guard Avery Bradley revealed a hairline fracture on the ‘non-weight bearing’ portion of his lower right leg. Bradley missed a game earlier last week after initially suffering what looked like an ankle injury in a Nov. 3 win at San Antonio. According to the Lakers release, Bradley will be re-evaluated in 1-to-2 weeks.

Bradley has stayed in the starting line-up, averaging 9.6 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. He’s stayed in the line-up mostly because of his on-ball defense and activity. He’s also doing a good job scoring inside the 3-point line to off-set a cold shooting start from the outside.

Without Bradley, the Lakers started Kentavious Caldwell-Pope against Chicago on Nov. 5 but Caldwell-Pope is currently listed as questionable for Friday’s game against the Kings. If KCP can’t go, Alex Caruso or Quinn Cook would be the likely next candidates to take Bradley’s place in the starting line-up.

Bradley will get to do a good portion of his recovery in Los Angeles as the Lakers aren’t scheduled to play a road game until a week from Friday in Oklahoma City.