Los Angeles Lakers point guard D'Angelo Russell will miss Friday night's crucial showdown with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Darvin Ham announced in his pregame press conference.
DLo is dealing with right hip soreness that Ham said was most likely aggravated in the Lakers' win over the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday. The Lakers announced the injury earlier on Friday and listed Russell as questionable for the Thunder clash.
“He was evaluated today, has a little something going on with his hips,” Ham said. “It's best that we hold him out tonight.”
Ham added the injury is “not too serious, but serious enough that we need to manage it.” Russell is considered “day-to-day.”
Darvin Ham says D’Angelo Russell is out tonight vs OKC and likely aggravated his hip last game. DLo is day-to-day. pic.twitter.com/PscvqZufrX
— Michael Corvo (@michaelcorvoNBA) March 25, 2023
Russell's injury is an obvious blow to the Lakers. OKC is tied with the Lakers (both teams at 36-37) for the No. 9 seed in the Western Conference standings and boasts one of the league's more formidable backcourts in Josh Giddey and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. The winner of tonight's game will win the season tiebreaker.
Shortly after Ham spoke, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault revealed that SGA would play versus the Lakers without a minutes restriction.
In 11 appearances for the Lakers since the trade deadline, Russell has averaged 18.6 points and 6.4 assists while shooting 39.5% from 3. He hung 26 points (9-of-13 shooting) and 6 assists on the Suns on Wednesday. It's unclear when exactly Russell experienced the hip pain, as he made no mention of it in his postgame remarks.
DLo missed six games with a sprained ankle earlier this month.
The Lakers next play on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. PT against the Chicago Bulls.
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