D’Angelo Russell out for Lakers vs. Grizzlies with right ankle sprain

The Lakers will continue to have to make do without D’Angelo Russell on Tuesday against the Grizzlies as the guard will miss his sixth straight game due to a sprained right ankle. Russell suffered the injury on Feb. 23 against the Warriors, exited the game near halftime and has not played since.

The Lakers are 3-2 in his absence heading into Tuesday’s game.

Russell is progressing forward in a number of ways and certainly seems close to returning. He took part in a pregame warmup to test out his ankle before the game but clearly was not healed enough to return just yet.

Coming into the game, D’Lo had been upgraded to questionable for the contest, the first time he had been listed as anything other than out in the last five pre-game injury reports.

While Russell’s return has taken much longer than anticipated, it could be in the home stretch now, especially after coming so close on Tuesday. The Lakers will be off until Friday at home against the Raptors and with D’Lo as close as he is now, that seems like the game he finally returns.

It’s been a frustrating timeline for Lakers fans, after optimism that he would only be out for a short time in the immediate aftermath of the injury. But, optimistically, this feels like the last game he will miss time before finally being able to return and help the Lakers in their playoff push.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.