The Los Angeles Lakers are almost 24 hours away from Opening Night against the Houston Rockets.
Jordan Hill participated in a full practice on Monday and is expected to be ready for Tuesday. Ronnie Price who suffered a knee injury in the Lakers final preseason game is doubtful. Lakers head coach Byron Scott said he is “pretty close,” but they’ll have to see how he feels tomorrow, which means Jordan Clarkson is expected to get minutes at the back-up point guard position.
Wayne Ellington, Xavier Henry, Ryan Kelly and Nick Young are all out for Tuesday’s game. Of course, Steve Nash is out for the season.
Dwight Howard was a hot topic of conversation amongst the LA media. Scott was asked what he expected Howard’s mentality to be on Tuesday night:
I’m sure he would love to play and beat the crap out of us,” Scott smiled after practice.
Scott also guessed that what clashed between Bryant and Howard was Bryant’s seriousness about winning championships. Jeremy Lin was asked a similar question, but didn’t think it would be appropriate to speak about another relationship that he didn’t know much about. Lin said he was pretty impressed with the way Howard handled himself on the road last year, amidst all of the constant boos from the crowd.
When asked about dealing with this year’s injuries, Lin responded:
I feel like people around here are used to it. Everyone’s like ‘Oh this is just like last year.’ I’m like ‘OK, that’s not a good thing!'”
With all the injuries, does Kobe Bryant still think this Lakers team could make the playoffs?
I dunno. I’d say yes but you guys are going to debate it anyway, so what the hell does it matter?”
In addition to Tuesday being Opening Night for the Lakers, tomorrow will also be the first time Scott steps on the court to coach a regular season game as head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers. Scott told LakersNation.com, Tuesday night will be a “dream come true.”
The Lakers take on the Houston Rockets Tuesday night at 7:30 PM PST.
[divide]Lakers Practice: Jeremy Lin Talks Opening Night, Dwight Howard And The Houston Rockets
