Los Angeles Lakers starting point guard D’Angelo Russell has been out of the lineup since Nov. 20 due to nagging soreness in his left knee. Shortly after being sidelined, he received platelet-rich plasma injection on the troublesome knee and has been limited mostly to pool cardio work. On Wednesday, the Lakers and Russell received a bit of good as the second overall pick of the 2015 NBA Draft was cleared to return to on-court activities.
As reported by Los Angeles Lakers reporter Mike Trudell, D’Angelo Russell met with doctors Tuesday and was cleared to continue rehabbing his knee with on-court activities. Since losing Russell to injury, the Los Angeles Lakers have lost eight of their last 11 games and have fallen out of the top eight in Western Conference with a 10-14 record.
But while having D’Angelo Russell return to on-court activities increases the possibility of him returning sooner rather than later, he is still expected to miss Friday’s home game against the Phoenix Suns and Sunday’s game against the New York Knicks, according to an NBA.com report. After a surprisingly promising start to the season, the Los Angeles Lakers have been hit with a rash of injuries that have led to the piling up of losses. Starting forward Nick Young has also been out with a right calf strain, Julius Randle has missed a few games with a hip pointer injury, and most recently, backup point guard Jose Calderon was also sidelined with a right hamstring strain. The Lakers are currently in the midst of a four game losing streak.
The Los Angeles Lakers are 3-8 in the 11 games D’Angelo Russell has missed. For the season, the crafty lefty is averaging 16.1 points, 3.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game. Next week, the Lakers embark on a seven-game road trip.