Game 3 was a physical one with the Los Angeles Lakers getting the better of the Phoenix Suns to take a 2-1 series lead in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.
Unfortunately for the Lakers, the physical nature led to some minor injuries as both Anthony Davis and Dennis Schroder both appeared to hurt their ankles although were able to stay in the game.
The same cannot be said for Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who hyperextended his knee after bumping into Devin Booker in the third quarter. Caldwell-Pope was unable to return to the game and the Lakers revealed on Friday morning that he underwent an MRI to find out what exactly they are dealing with.
The Lakers then provided the results of the MRI and confirmed no structural damage and a mild left knee contusion. He will be listed as day-to-day.
This is obviously great news for the Lakers as they cannot afford to lose their starting shooting guard in the midst of a potential championship run.
While Caldwell-Pope has not shot the ball well in the first three games of the series, his physicality defending Booker has been invaluable to the team.
Caldwell-Pope explains how injury happened
While the MRI results were a positive sign, it remains to be seen if Caldwell-Pope will be ready to return to action in Game 4 on Sunday afternoon. He said after the Game 3 win though that he hopes that’s the case.
He also described how he suffered the injury while defending Booker.
“It was me coming off the pick-and-roll with him [Booker], the kind of hostage situation, he tried to hostage me. He kind of like backed into my leg and it hyperextended a little bit,” Caldwell-Pope said. “Other than that, that was all that happened. I felt immediately pain when it did, when he bumped me and it hyperextended. It was painful enough where I couldn’t finish the game.”
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