UPDATE (December 19 at 2:32 PM PST): According to The Oklahoman’s Anthony Slater, Kevin Durant will not play against the Los Angeles Lakers tonight and is day-to-day with an ankle sprain:
Kevin Durant (right ankle sprain) will NOT play against the Lakers tonight. He remains day-to-day.
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) December 19, 2014
After four days off, the Los Angeles Lakers will get back to work on Friday night playing host to the Oklahoma City Thunder at the Staples Center.
Despite the Thunder sporting a 12-14 record, Oklahoma City is back to form as one of the better teams in the league. Kevin Durant missed the first 17 games of the season for the Thunder resulting in his team struggling to get by without him.
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Fortunately, Durant has been back in the fold for the last 10 games, but suffered an ankle sprain in the loss to the Golden State Warriors on Thursday. As a result of the ankle sprain, Durant is considered a game-time decision for Friday’s matchup against the Lakers, according to Marc J Spears of Yahoo Sports:
Thunder forward Kevin Durant (ankle) a game-time decision against the Lakers tonight, a source said.
— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) December 19, 2014
The Thunder have won eight of their last 10 games with Durant back in the mix. Unfortunately, with Durant out for more than half the games played so far and Russell Westbrook also missing a lot of time, Oklahoma City continues to try and dig themselves out of a hole created by a slow start.
As for the Lakers, Jordan Hill might not make it to the floor tonight due to flu-like symptoms that he’s been dealing with all week long. Hill is expected to play on Friday night, but there’s no guarantee he’ll be ready to go come game time.
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