Another Casualty In Lakerland?

If any of you out there watched any of the Los Angeles-Houston affair last night, then you already know that the Lakers pulled one out in double-overtime. While the wins are most important, they paid a price for the “W” as Mike Bresnahan of the Los Angeles Times is reporting that while Pau Gasol is closer to returning to the hardwood, another big man may miss some time due to an injury (a recurring theme here?)

Let’s first focus on Gasol.

There was a bit of “he said, he said” going on after the Lakers win in reference to Gasol’s health state when coach Phil Jackson said that Gasol could possibly play against the Memphis Grizzlies; meanwhile, Gasol begged to differ as he replied that he was”far from playing” on Friday. At least we know that there is a 50% chance that one of those statements is correct.

Now on to the injured “big man”. During the LA-Houston contest, Andrew Bynum was fouled hard across his right arm during a shot attempt and as a result, sustained a sprained elbow; the center will be re-evaluated on Thursday (today) in Los Angeles. According to Bynum:

“I can’t even lift my arm right now. They just took a shot at me. That’s that, I guess. It’s not that bad. It just takes a little while to heal up.”

Read into that any way that you want to , but know that even after he sustained the injury, Bynum made one of 2 free throws before leaving the game for good with 24 seconds left in overtime. He would also have trouble dressing normally as one arm performed the functions of two.

In a worse case scenario, should Bynum not be available against Memphis on Friday, the only big man truly qualified to play center is Lamar Odom. Hey, don’t laugh. Yes, Lamar Odom. It isn’t like Phil is going to just start DJ Mbenga at the 5. And it isn’t like Odom hasn’t played center before. You have to remember that once upon a time for the Lakers, Magic Johnson played a bit of center during a Lakers playoff game; my point here being is that if Magic can play center, so can Odom. Besides, Odom has played the 5 before during his career, so this isn’t exactly uncharted territory for Lamar.

In any case, the next 24-36 hours should reveal whether Gasol is any closer to returning to action and how injured Bynum really is. Once that information is avaialble, Slam Dunk Central will have it for you.