For the Los Angeles Lakers, it’s been one key injury after another, including the one to newcomer Andre Drummond on Wednesday night.
The defending champions have also gone without LeBron James (ankle) and Anthony Davis (calf), and can’t seem to catch a break. Just a bunch of sprains, strains and in the case of Drummond, toe contusions.
Today, the Lakers (30-18) sit in fourth place in the Western Conference and have going just 2-5 in the recent stretch minus James.
But fear not, insisted coach Frank Vogel. All the injuries are not a point of emphasis.
“We don’t worry about that,” he told reporters. “We’re about the guys in uniform. We know we have enough. We have a deep team. We’ve been playing really good basketball, getting better each game during this stretch. We’re confident that we can win.”
And guess what? Things aren’t about to get any easier, the Lakers are about to begin a seven-game trek on the road, beginning Friday at Sacramento.
Yes, you read that right — seven straight on the road. It includes a Finals rematch at Miami and a potential Finals preview at Brooklyn.
So, good luck with all that. But again, Vogel knows this is really just a tune-up for the real thing, when James, Davis and Drummond are expected to be at their best.
“We know we have a deep team, we’ve been playing really good basketball, getting better each game during this stretch and we’re confident that we can win,” Vogel said. “The schedule gets really tough over the next couple weeks but our group is gonna keep working, we’re gonna grind, we’re gonna prepare and we’re gonna believe in one another.”
