With Wesley Johnson dealing with an illness, Lakers leading scorer Nick Young will replace him in the starting lineup according to Mike Trudell of Lakers.com via Twitter:
With Wesley Johnson iffy for the game, Nick Young will likely start at small forward. Young started 6 games earlier in the season.
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) December 31, 2013
Although Young has come off the bench for the majority of the season, the veteran guard has played extremely well in a reserve role. Young is currently averaging a team-high 16.2 points per game while shooting 42.9 percent from the floor and 37.2 from beyond the arc making him a legitimate Sixth Man of the Year candidate.
The Lakers leading scorer has played in all 31 games this season while starting six games thus far.
Along with Johnson dealing with gastroenteritis, Pau Gasol continues to battle an upper respiratory infection while Chris Kaman is also not 100 percent with an ankle injury. Both Kaman and Gasol will play regardless of their ailments.
Head coach Mike D’Antoni is hopeful that Johnson will still be able to play tonight in a reserve role, but his status remains uncertain at this point in time.
With Young starting tonight, the Lakers will have a different starting lineup for the 17th time this season. Ironically enough, the Lakers will tie the Bucks with the number of changes to the starting lineup this year unless Milwaukee also mixes things up tonight.
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