The Los Angeles Lakers are heading into their Friday night match against the Utah Jazz severely depleted.
Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Steve Blake and Pau Gasol will all be sidelined due to injuries, and the coaching staff is going deep into its bench for help. Ryan Kelly is a player who is seeing an increase in minutes with all the setbacks to the team and he has impressed Mike D’Antoni with his play on both ends of the court.
However, Dave McMenamin reports that Kelly tweaked his ankle during a team practice on Thursday. The Lakers have been plagued with injuries this season but luckily Kelly will most likely be able to play on Friday.
Ryan Kelly, who D’Antoni has been giving burn to as of late, tweaked his ankle in practice Thurs but should still play Friday vs. UTA
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) December 27, 2013
The Lakers are currently 13-16 and three games out of the eighth seed in the Western Conference standings. As for the Jazz, they are currently the worst team in the conference in terms of record as they stand at 8-23. Nevertheless, the Lakers tend to struggle when playing in Utah and with many of their stars out, expect to see a close game.
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