NBA: D'Angelo Russell Could Be Finally Back To Play This Weekend To Pull Injury-Hit Lakers Out Of Trouble

By Shubham Ghosh - 07 Dec '16 07:23AM

He has been one of the major hopes for the Los Angeles Lakers and his absence for a few weeks because of a knee injury has not helped his team. But good news is that the 20-year-old star point guard D'Angelo Russell could be back on the court this weekend.

CBS Sports's James Herbert informed this.The condition of Russell, who underwent platelet-rich plasma treatment on November 23, was reassessed on Tuesday (December 6) and cleared to resume on-the-court work, tweeted Los Angeles Times's Jesse Dougherty. Russell has missed 10 matches because of his injury.

Walton on Russell: was reevaluated today, feels better, Lakers are going to start getting him back on the court. Russell will not travel.

— Jesse Dougherty (@dougherty_jesse) December 6, 2016

"They told me today that [Russell's] able to start doing some stuff on the court again, that he's not coming with us. So with what we're doing from the coaching staff, we're prepping and working out here with players that are going to be on this trip," Walton said after the Lakers practiced on Tuesday (Dec 6), according to another report by Dougherty.

The Lakers have depended on the likes of Jose Calderon, Jordan Clarkson and Marcelo Huertas in the absence of Russell. But now with Calderon also going out for a few weeks because of injury and Nick Young, Tarik Black and Larry Nance Jr also not the fittest men around, coach Luke Walton has faced a lot of issues. The Lakers' injury problem has multiplied so much that they have decided to take only 11 players to play the road game against the Houston Rockets on Wednesday (Dec 7).

The Lakers have lost their last three games to rank ninth in the Western Conference. In fact, the Lakers have lost eight of their last 11 games which has spoilt the record (10-13) of the promising team somewhat. In the match against Chicago Bulls which the Lakers lost 110-118, Russell did his best to deliver but he was far from what he is capable of.

The young Lakers though have the depth but Russell's absence means an important link in the unit has gone missing. Knee injuries are generally threatening for a player but in Russell's case, the good news is that he didn't have to undergo a surgery.