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The Lakers have dealt with everything from starting lineup changes (Darrius Morris started 17 games for crying out loud), to injuries, to changing coaches. Nash missed 24 straight games. His backup (Blake) missed 37 games. Howard missed 6, but isn't 100% (back) and now his shoulder is hurt. Pau missed 23 games (& counting). His primary backup (JHill) has missed 30 games, and is out for the year. His absence has paved the way for Earl Clark to show us what he can do (mixed results - mostly good though). The only constant? Kobe. 27/5/5 is keeping us in contention for a playoff berth.
We're playing relatively well right now - winning 12 of the last 16. I'm projecting that we should get Pau back with a handful of games remaining in the RS:
LINKPau saw Dr. Yoon yesterday (26 Feb 2013) and had an ultrasound test done. His healing process is coming along, and he has been cleared to work out on the Precor machine.
Gasol originally suffered a tear of the plantar fascia in a win at Brooklyn on Feb. 5, and the team announced he’d be out approximately six to eight weeks.
Pau should be back just in time for the stretch run. Like I said before, I'd match him up with any backup center in the league. His return will be a major boost to our 2nd unit.
If we make the playoffs, it will take about 46 wins to do it. We are currently 9th. 29-30 record. 23 games remaining. 12 games v. teams with > 0.500 record. I'm betting that we do get in and neither OKC nor SA will be willing to play us in the 1st round. Why? To get to 46 wins, it means we have to go 17-6 (winning at 73.9% clip). It would also mean we're playing some of the best ball of any team in the league going into the playoffs. For example, the only teams winning at a better clip than 73.9% are SA, OKC, and MIA. If we do finish 17-6 the rest of the way, that means we actually won 29 of our remaining 45 games - when combining our current stretch of good play. That's a winning percentage of 64.4% of our games to close out the season - after such a horrible start given all of the factors that played against us.
