Only seven games remain in the 2016-17 NBA season for the Los Angeles Lakers. As the team limps toward the finish line and looks ahead to the 2017 NBA Draft, rookie Brandon Ingram appears to be ready to get back on the floor.
According to Mark Medina of the L.A. Daily News, Ingram is listed as probable to return to the lineup on Saturday against the Los Angeles Clippers:
Lakers listing Brandon Ingram as probable for tomorrow vs Clippers
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) March 31, 2017
Ingram, who was able to stay injury-free for most of his rookie campaign, has missed the last three games due to knee tendinitis. The injury wasn’t serious enough to shut down the 19-year-old for the rest of the season like fellow rookie Ivica Zubac, but it apparently raised cause for concern keeping him off the floor for the last three contests.
Before he missed three consecutive games with the tendinitis issue, Ingram was starting to come into his own. The rookie forward has struggled shooting consistently well over the course of his first season with the Lakers but began to turn things around with 10 straight games in double-digit scoring while shooting an impressive 50 percent or better in eight of those games.
Ingram’s knee tendinitis flaring up came at an unfortunate time with so much progress being shown by the Duke product. Fortunately for the rookie and the Lakers coaching staff, it appears his season won’t come to an end prematurely and he’ll be able to get back track.
The Lakers will be the away team against the Clippers at the Staples Center on Saturday night. It will be the first game of a back-to-back with the Lakers hosting the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday. Both games have an early start time of 12:30 p.m. PST.