Jeremy Lin suffered a sprained ankle last weekend in practice, keeping him out of Sunday’s blowout loss to the Warriors. On Monday, he returned to practice in a limited fashion and head coach Byron Scott did not rule out a possibility of a return to the court for Thursday night’s contest.
Byron Scott gave Kobe and Nash the day off. Jeremy Lin did not practice and is 50-50 for Thursday's game.
— Arash Markazi (@ArashMarkazi) October 13, 2014
Byron Scott said Jeremy Lin will be game time decision Thurs vs Utah. Lin did not do any work today
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) October 13, 2014
The Lakers have rightly taken the recovery process of not just Lin, but fellow Lakers Xavier Henry and Ryan Kelly, slowly. With the regular season not kicking off until the end of the month, the Lakers are in no need to hurry along recoveries.
At the same time, the Lakers are already in a mini-crisis at the point guard spot, with their top three options all out with injuries. Steve Nash sat out last night’s contest after playing in the first quarter in what he called a precautionary move. Jordan Clarkson suffered a calf strain in last Thursday’s match, but could return to the court this Thursday.
Byron Scott says it's more likely that Jordan Clarkson would play in Sunday's game versus Thursday's.
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) October 13, 2014
Regardless, it’s imperative to keep in mind this is the preseason, meaning the results don’t matter. As few point guards as the Lakers have, it’s better to have none now and all during the regular season. Equally important, though, is that the point guards get comfortable with their teammates, giving the Lakers a trick decision.