Los Angeles Lakers Guard Lonzo Ball Out for at Least One Week With Shoulder Injury
Los Angeles Lakers rookie guard Lonzo Ball will have to sit out a few games this week after he injured his left shoulder in the game against the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday.
After undergoing a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan on Sunday, the Lakers announced that Ball was diagnosed with a sprained left shoulder and he's going to be sidelined for at least one week.
Ball hurt his shoulder when he got tangled up with Blazers center Jusuf Nurkić in the final moments of the second quarter, but he would play on in the second half. He had 10 points, eight rebounds, 11 assists, two steals and a block in the loss to the Blazers.
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The rookie initially thought he would be ready for their Christmas Day matchup against the Minnesota Timberwolves, but he started to experience swelling in his shoulder the next day.
"It really didn't hurt until the next day, when I woke up it was pretty sore," Ball said on Sunday, via the Los Angeles Times. "That's when we got the MRI and then the results came back. So, trying to stay positive and get back as fast as I can," he continued.
Ball is expected to miss the Lakers' games against the Memphis Grizzlies (Dec. 27), Los Angeles Clippers (Dec. 29), Houston Rockets (Dec. 31) and the Timberwolves (Jan. 1).
Ball has been playing much better lately and he has been shooting the ball better in recent weeks.
In the meantime, Lakers head coach Luke Walton wants him to continue spending time with his teammates while he is recovering
"He's watching practice. He's obviously doing his rehab and he's doing conditioning, so that when he is ready to come back and play he can hopefully still be sharp and continue to build off what he's been doing prior to the injury," Walton said, according to the Los Angeles Times.
