Pau Gasol of the Los Angeles Lakers has been out of action since leaving a February 5th game against the Brooklyn Nets with a torn plantar fascia in his right foot, will be out longer than the original prognosis of "six to eight weeks" and could potentially miss the rest of the regular season, according to the Orange County Register.
The Lakers are battling tooth and nail for a playoff spot in the Western Conference, but head coach Mike D'Antoni is not optimistic that Gasol will be able help the cause, saying "By the time he comes back we'll be in or out." The Lakers had been showing newfound cohesion without Gasol, with reserves like Earl Clark and Jodie Meeks thriving in more defined roles.
This elevated level of play prompted Kobe Bryant to guarantee a playoff berth for the Lakers, but they took a giant step backward Monday night, falling 119-108 to the Denver Nuggets and giving up 78 points in the paint, the most ever against a Dwight Howard team.
Gasol has struggled mightily since D'Antoni took over the team, averaging 13.4 points per game, the fewest in his 14-year career, on 45 percent shooting, another career-low. Gasol, one of the most devastating post scorers in the league often found himself taking spot-up jump shots and 3-pointers, which is far from the style that made him an All-Star. Before his injury, D'Antoni had put Gasol on the bench in favor of Earl Clark, who is averaging 8.3 points and 6.3 rebounds a game in a career-high 24 minutes a night.
It appears that the Lakers have figured out their roles and are now on their way to stealing a playoff seed from the Utah Jazz or Houston Rockets, setback in Denver aside, but Tom Ziller of SB Nation cautions NBA watchers that this run may not be as impressive as it looks. Ziller is quoted on Yahoo! saying, "According to NBA.com/stats, over the last 15 games (11-4 record) the Lakers are scoring 1.04 points per possession and allowing 1.02. Over the entire season (59 games, 24-25 record) the Lakers are scoring 1.05 points per possession and allowing 1.03. The team's efficiency differential for the season is +1.9; over the last 15 games it is +2.3. The Lakers are barely different." This simply means the Lakers are getting luckier in close games that weren't going their way early. With or without Gasol, getting into the postseason will be no easy task for Kobe and company.
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