After sitting out against the San Antonio Spurs last Friday with a sore left knee, D’Angelo Russell was able to get back on the floor on Sunday against the Chicago Bulls. Although Russell played 23 minutes in the loss to the Bulls, he stuck to shooting threes because he wasn’t confident to do much else because of the knee issue.
Unfortunately for the Lakers, Russell doesn’t have much time to rest his knee. The Lakers will get back to work on Tuesday against Russell Westbrook and the visiting Oklahoma City Thunder.
On Monday, Russell sat out of Lakers practice to get some rest and now he’s considered questionable for Tuesday’s game against the Thunder, according to Mark Medina of the L.A. Daily News:
Luke Walton held Russell out of practice today because of knee, considered questionable vs OKC
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) November 21, 2016
With Russell dealing with a knee injury, the team will likely continue to be extremely cautious with their starting point guard. Luke Walton doesn’t want to rush him back while dealing with this kind of injury and wasn’t thrilled that Russell camped out beyond the arc last night, via Medina:
Even if Russell has knee issues, Walton doesn't want him to settle for 3's. Walton wants him to be more aggressive and attack
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) November 21, 2016
Not only is Russell dealing with a knee issue which could get worse if the team isn’t careful, but the Ohio State product will also have to go head-to-head against arguably one of the toughest players in the league to guard on Tuesday night.
Westbrook has been nearly unstoppable this season seemingly putting up triple-doubles on a nightly basis. Throwing Russell out there to guard Westbrook while being limited offensively probably isn’t the right course of action.
Although Russell is currently considered questionable, that stance could quickly change tomorrow. Walton and company might be wise to sit him again, especially with the team playing a back-to-back with a matchup against the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday.
