The Los Angeles Lakers have been hampered by injuries all season long, but especially in recent weeks when they’ve been forced to play without a number of key players, particularly their ball-handlers.
In Wednesday night’s win over the Houston Rockets, the Lakers were not only without their two stars in LeBron James and Anthony Davis, but also their starting point guard Dennis Schroder and backup Alex Caruso.
Schroder has missed the last seven games after being forced to enter the league’s health and safety protocols. It has not been confirmed if Schroder tested positive for coronavirus (COVID-19), but he was still forced to complete a mandatory 10-14 day quarantine phase before returning to the court.
By the time the Lakers next take the court on Saturday afternoon against the Indiana Pacers, Schroder will have completed a full 10 days, making him eligible to return to action if he tests negative and isn’t displaying any symptoms. It appears that will be the case as Schroder took to Instagram to announce that he’s back:
This is obviously great news for the Lakers, who only have two regular-season games remaining to gain some continuity before likely being forced to participate in the play-in tournament.
It remains to be seen how Schroder will be feeling physically, but it will be good to have two somewhat meaningless games to get his rhythm back before playing in the Lakers’ most important game of the season.
In 59 games this season, Schroder has averaged 15.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 5.8 assists while also playing All-NBA caliber defense, making him perhaps the team’s third-most important player going into the postseason.
Vogel hopeful Schroder can play against Pacers
Before Schroder took to social media to announce he’s back, Frank Vogel discussed his status and had already been hopeful that would be the case.
“It’s still a possibility,” Vogel said of Schroder playing against the Pacers. “It’s all I can really say. It’s still in the early stage that he can return and he can return on that date as of right now. That hasn’t been prolonged, so we’re hopeful he’s able to play in the Indiana [Pacers] game.”
Now that Schroder will be back in action, it will be interesting to see if the same can be said for both James and Davis, who have been dealing with their own respective injuries.
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