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Anthony Davis will miss his third consecutive game for the Los Angeles Lakers due to the gluteus maximus contusion he suffered against the New York Knicks last week.
Frank Vogel said that Davis has made progress, but is still dealing with some soreness. However, he expects his team to compete at the same level they played at when they upset the Thunder this past weekend.
“We’ve been without AD for a couple of games now, so hopefully we’ve found a little rhythm with what those lineups are going to look like, with (Kyle Kuzma) starting at the four and (Jared Dudley) backing him up,” Vogel said.
Vogel said Davis was "closer" to playing than he was the other night, but that he's still having soreness.
— Harrison Faigen (@hmfaigen) January 14, 2020
"They're gonna be day-to-day and I'll communicate with the medical team, but we want them as close to pain free as possible."
Rajon Rondo will also sit out of Monday night’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers after an MRI revealed a non-displaced volar plate avulsion fracture of the right ring finger earlier today. Rondo suffered the injury against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday. The Lakers are listing him as day-to-day, but a report gave a little more specificity:
New story: Anthony Davis missed his 3rd straight game Monday vs. CLE; Rajon Rondo is expected to miss 4-5 days with a fractured right ring finger, league source told ESPN https://t.co/yG93RKpubt
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) January 14, 2020
On the bright side, the Lakers will be getting one of their superstar players back on Monday, as LeBron James has been cleared to play. James missed Saturday’s matchup with the Thunder due to flu-like symptoms. Avery Bradley will also be available after being listed as questionable with flu-like symptoms.
With James, Bradley and Danny Green available for Monday’s game, the Lakers will have four of their five starters available. However, their second unit will have to do some re-tooling with Rondo — the team’s primary backup point guard — sidelined. Alex Caruso can fill that role, but he’s struggled as the primary ball-handler dating back to the preseason. For that reason, Vogel said he’s going to get Quinn Cook some playing time. Cook scored 13 points off of the bench on Saturday.
Vogel could also defer to Kuzma, who’s enjoyed success with more ball-handling duties. Kuzma has averaged 31 points on 52.2% shooting from the field over the last two games. Until it stops working, Vogel should keep going to Kuzma.
The other notable thing Frank Vogel said pregame was that the main thing the changed the other night was getting Kyle Kuzma more reps as a ballhandler in the PNR.
— Harrison Faigen (@hmfaigen) January 14, 2020
"It was really effective," Vogel said.
The Lakers and Cavaliers will tip-off at 7:30 p.m. on Spectrum SportsNet.
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