The Los Angeles Lakers are probably happy that it isn’t any worse but it never helps to lose one of their key players, especially while he was playing well. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope had started the 3rd quarter scoring eight straight points for the Lakers but on a cutting lay-up attempt, he turned his left ankle pretty hard and sat down under the basket for several seconds before players on both teams went to check on him. The good news is that the x-rays on Caldwell-Pope’s ankle are negative, but he was ruled out to return for the remainder of Friday’s game against the Spurs.
Update: KCP diagnosed with a mild ankle sprain after x-rays. He won’t return
— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) January 2, 2021
Without both KCP and Alex Caruso, the Lakers will rely even more on Wesley Matthews, second-year guard Talen Horton-Tucker, and Kyle Kuzma, to give them quality play on the wing. While it is only a mild sprain, we likely won’t know about his status for Sunday’s game in Memphis by the end of the Lakers game against the Spurs on Friday.
