Lakers' Nick Young out 2-4 weeks with right calf strain
Los Angeles Lakers veteran Nick Young’s bounceback season didn’t suffer quite as a serious setback as it seemed when he went down during Tuesday night’s game at the New Orleans Pelicans, but the swingman’s might still be on the shelf through the holidays.
Not even two minutes into the contest, Young went up to challenge a layup from guard Tim Frazier and came down clutching his right leg. Young was carried off the court by teammates and staff:
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The Lakers revealed soon after that Young had been ruled out for the game with an Achilles injury:
Nick Young has a right Achilles' tendon strain. He’s out for tonight’s game and will undergo an MRI tomorrow in Chicago.
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) November 30, 2016
Non-contact injuries are always frightening, especially when they affect the Achilles and require a player to be helped to the locker room by several others. The play did not look good by any means, leaving Laker fans prepared for the worst. Luckily, the results of Wednesday’s MRI to indicate the severity of the injury weren’t quite as dire as initially feared:
Lakers guard/forward Nick Young, who was injured in the first quarter of last night’s game at New Orleans, had an MRI exam today in Chicago. The results show a strained calf muscle in his right leg. Young is expected to be out approximately 2-4 weeks.
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While a two- to four-week stint on the injured list with a calf strain is certainly preferrable to a more serious Achilles injury, the Lakers still figure to miss Young considerably during his absence.
The West’s biggest surprise entered Tuesday night at 9-9 and No. 8 in the conference, well ahead of every preseason prediction. The man known as “Swaggy P” has played a big role in that fine start, excelling as a funhouse-mirror version of a dependable role player under first-year head coach Luke Walton. Young started the day averaging 14.1 points per game on 41.8 percent shooting from beyond the arc, and has often guarded the opponent’s best perimeter scorer in crunch time.
With fellow starter D’Angelo Russell also sidelined for two to three weeks as he works through a sore left knee, Walton figures to rely more heavily on reserve wings Jordan Clarkson and rookie Brandon Ingram, and possibly veteran Metta World Peace, who saw 12 minutes of playing time off the pine in the Lakers’ 105-88 loss in New Orleans.
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Eric Freeman is a writer for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at efreeman_ysports@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
