The year of the injury continues for the Lakers.
During the Lakers’ 102-91 loss against the San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday evening, both Steves (Nash and Blake) were hobbled.
Nash, of course, has been dealing with a hip/hamstring issue over the last month or so, but things got worse once again.
He suited up for Game 1 on Sunday–although he was admittedly not himself–but re-aggravated his hamstring during the first half of Game 2.
—- See Steve Nash through the years in photos! —-
To add insult to injury (pun intended), Steve Blake–who has been playing well as of late–injured his hamstring; Mike Bresnahan of the L.A. Times explained:
Just what Lakers didn’t need: Steve Blake has strained right hamstring. Severity unclear at this point but no injury is good right now.
— Mike Bresnahan (@Mike_Bresnahan) April 25, 2013
Despite re-aggravating his hamstring, Nash finished the game with nine points and six assists in 31 minutes of play, while Steve Blake finished with 16 points and six rebounds in just under 36 minutes.
The two Steves, along with Jodie Meeks–who sat out Wednesday’s game–will all undergo medical procedures over the next two days, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN Los Angeles:
LAL injury report: Nash scheduled for another epidural Thursday. Blake will receive an ultrasound on his hamstring. Meeks MRI on ankle Fri
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) April 25, 2013
The injury bug has certainly bit the Lakers this season and has repeatedly and relentlessly come back for more.
While the Lakers’ frontcourt has finally become relatively healthy with Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard seemingly back into decent form and the return of Jordan Hill on Wednesday, the back-courthas taken an immense hit lately.
Obviously, the season-ending injury to future Hall-of-Fame shooting guard Kobe Bryant is the most notable injury. However, Nash has been hampered much of this season, Jodie Meeks sprained his ankle on Sunday and now Steve Blake may once again miss some time and/or be limited after coming back strong from an abdominal injury early on this season.
The Lakers, who have dealt with injuries all season long, have no choice but to try to move forward with whomever they’ll have available come Game 3 on Friday night.
As they say, the show must go on.