Avery Bradley continued his strong start to the 2019-20 NBA season as the Los Angeles Lakers picked up their fifth consecutive win.
Bradley finished with 16 points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field in the team’s 103-96 victory over the San Antonio Spurs, but unfortunately he didn’t finish the game.
Bradley went into the locker room during the fourth quarter of the contest and it was unclear exactly what happened to cause his early exit. He has been one of the catalysts for the team’s early success this season and there were surely concerns over what could be bothering him.
Thankfully it sounds as if it was nothing serious. According to Mike Trudell of Lakers, Bradley simply got kicked in his knee, but is fine:
Frank Vogel said Avery Bradley got kicked around his knee area, but said postgame that he was “fine.”
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) November 4, 2019
The Lakers did play it safe with Bradley, giving him an X-ray which came back negative. As such, the team is officially listing him as day-to-day with a leg contusion, via Trudell:
X-Rays were negative on Avery Bradley’s leg. He’s day-to-day with a lower leg contusion.
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) November 4, 2019
Bradley has been a huge part of the team’s success, bringing a lot to them on both ends of the floor. Defensively, he sets the tone for the Lakers at the point of attack, harassing the opposition’s point guard and making life difficult.
Offensively, Bradley has also been solid for the Lakers, ranking fourth on the team in scoring at 10.7 points while shooting 35.3% from three-point range — second on the team behind Danny Green. He’s also third on the Lakers in minutes per game at 27.8 so if he were to miss any time, it would be a lot of court time to fill.
Thankfully for the Lakers, this seems to be an extremely minor issue that won’t have him out for any large portion of time — if any at all. He has gotten off to an excellent start this season and it would be awful if that momentum was threatened to be derailed due to injury.
Bradley has quickly showed himself to be an excellent signing for the Lakers this offseason, proving to be a positive on both ends of the court.
It may have been a concerning moment when Bradley walked off the floor against the Spurs, but all seems to be well which the team is undoubtedly happy about.
UPDATE (November 4, 2019 at 1:26 PM PT): Bradley did not participate in practice and is listed as questionable against the Chicago Bulls, according to Brad Turner of Los Angeles Times:
Frank Vogel said Avery Bradley didn’t participate in Lakers practice and will be listed as questionable for game at Chicago tomorrow with bruised lower right leg
— Brad Turner (@BA_Turner) November 4, 2019