Los Angeles Lakers: Lonzo Ball not 100 percent, hopes to play Friday

On Friday night, the Los Angeles Lakers will be back in action in their first game since the All-Star break. Hopefully, Lonzo Ball will be back as well.

The Los Angeles Lakers will be back in action on Friday night against the Dallas Mavericks as they attempt to stop their three-game losing streak.

Coming into the All-Star break, the Lakers were certainly struggling. They lost three straight games, two of which were to playoff contenders. However, their defense really performed poorly and was certainly a topic during practice on the break.

On Friday, the Lakers are expected to get a boost to their lineup, as Lonzo Ball is expected to return from his MCL sprain. Ball has missed the last 15 games for the Lakers, but they were able to have a winning record at 8-7.

Getting Ball back will certainly be a boost, as he has performed well in his rookie season. Since Ball missed so much time, he might have to kick off some rust. Also, it doesn’t appear that Ball is at 100 percent just yet.

Recently, Ball spoke to Matthew Moreno of LakersNation.com about his hopeful return from the injury. Here’s what Ball had to say.

"“If it was up to me, I’d be playing,” Ball said.“But like I’ve said, we’ve got to get the clearance from [the medical staff]. I’ll come in, tell them how I feel, and we’ll go from there. I feel I could definitely play. I don’t think it’s going to get any worse from me playing so I feel like I should be out there.”"

Getting their starting point guard back will certainly be good for the Lakers in the second half of the season. In his rookie season, Ball is averaging 10.2 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 7.1 assists per game.

While Ball’s shooting percentages were a hot topic early in the season, he was shooting it much better prior to getting hurt. In Ball’s absence, it has been Brandon Ingram who has been handling the point guard duties mostly for the Lakers. Now, Ingram will have to adjust back to playing off ball more. Also, the highly anticipated combo of Isaiah Thomas and Ball will surely get some run on Friday.

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The second half of the season will be important for Ball as he will try to stay healthy and continue to develop. While it will surely take him a few games to get the rust off, it will be good to see Ball back in the lineup