Kobe Bryant did not go through a full Lakers practice on Thursday, though he did come into the facility to shoot around and get treatment. If Bryant plays tomorrow as expected, the plan is to keep him in the lower 30-minutes range.
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Ryan Kelly participated in his third full day of practice and he is expected to play on Friday against the Memphis Grizzlies. Lakers head coach Byron Scott says he won’t have a problem finding minutes for Kelly by likely shaving a couple minutes off the other bigs.
The Lakers have had about three weeks with their new starting lineup, which sent Jeremy Lin and Carlos Boozer to the second unit. What has Scott seen from Lin over the past few weeks?
A lot of inconsistency. Some games he’s really good and some game’s he’s not,” Scott said after practice. “He’ll have one real good game and the next game it seems like he doesn’t have his confidence. I know he knows he can provide a lot more than what he’s been doing.”
Lin is averaging 10.3 points and 4.7 assists in 26.6 minutes this season. In the Lakers latest win over the Denver Nuggets, Lin finished with four points and four assists in 15 minutes. In the game prior, a loss to Phoenix, Lin had 19 points and two assists.
Lin agrees with Scott in that there’s more to his game than he’s been able to show the past couple months. Two weeks ago, after the Lakers loss to the Indiana Pacers, Lin told the media that one of the toughest things for him this season has been knowing what he’s capable of and not being able to bring that to this team. After the Lakers loss to Phoenix Sunday, Lin once again reiterated that he has more to give.
When you talk about reaching my full potential there’s still more,” Lin said after his 19 points and two assists performance.
Scott said he’s looking for Lin to be more aggressive and make smart basketball decisions. The Lakers take on the Memphis Grizzles on Friday at Staples Center.
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