One of the few things that hasn’t gone right for the Lakers during their recent winning run has been Marcus Smart’s injury.
After establishing himself as a valuable role player and starter this season, Smart has missed six straight games due to injury. In the team’s stop in Orlando, Smart injured his ankle after Goga Bitadze fell on him.
After initially being diagnosed as a day-to-day injury, Smart hasn’t played in nearly two weeks, a Lakers special this season. However, prior to Thursday’s game against
the Thunder, head coach JJ Redick provided an encouraging update on Smart and a potential return date.
It’s certainly easier to take a more cautious approach to bringing a player back from injury when you are winning, which could be what the Lakers have done. At the very least, they haven’t been in a rush to bring Smart back with wins racking up.
After missing nine of the first 23 games, Smart played in all but two games from Dec. 10 through that Orlando game on March 21. Considering he came into his Lakers tenure with plenty of injury concerns from recent seasons, it was a stretch of games that was reassuring.
With the playoffs approaching, though, getting Smart back on the court to ensure the rust is knocked off will be paramount. If he does return on Sunday, that will give him a week’s worth of games, including a contest against the Thunder, before the postseason.
And with how bad things went for the Lakers against the Thunder on Thursday, any bit of good news will be helpful.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.
