Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell sits out against Spurs because of knee soreness

The Lakers sat guard D’Angelo Russell on Wednesday against the San Antonio Spurs. They also put forward Brandon Ingram back on a minutes restriction.

Tyler Ennis started in place of Russell, who was ailing from some knee soreness, and scored 19 points in the Lakers’ surprising victory.

The soreness is in Russell’s left knee, the Lakers said. That’s the same knee that caused Russell to miss 12 games earlier this season. Russell hadn’t displayed signs of the injury lately, but he irritated his knee before Wednesday’s game.

Ingram remained on a minutes restriction despite coach Luke Walton’s optimism earlier in the day that he would not need one.

Ingram has been hampered by tendinitis in his right patella tendon. He missed three games last week with the injury, one that he might have played through were the Lakers fighting for playoff positioning. Ingram played nine minutes in the first quarter, then didn’t play for the rest of the game.

By the end of the game, the Lakers went down one more player. Jordan Clarkson suffered a left knee contusion while driving to the rim and did not play in the fourth quarter.

World Peace gets a chance

Metta World Peace hadn’t played for nine consecutive games, but he entered Wednesday’s game with 6:07 left in the second quarter.

“My favorite is watching him mix it up on the defensive end,” Walton said. “It brings a smile on my face watching him get tangled up with people and just remembering what it was like having to play against him back in my younger days and how much I hated it. Watching other people have to deal with that was a lot of fun for me.”

Walton said he enjoys having the chance to play World Peace. He added that their stable of forwards had grown thin by the time Ingram had to leave the game.

World Peace finished with five points and a rebound. He made his third three-pointer of the season.

“That’s what I do; I always just mix it up,” World Peace said of his defense. “Don’t give no ground. Be physical. I’ve gotta use what I have. I don’t got no hops, so I can’t do that.”

Breaking monotony

After a day off Monday following back-to-back games Saturday and Sunday, the Lakers were scheduled to practice straight from the airport after landing in San Antonio.

Instead, the buses took a detour to Lackland Air Force Base, surprising the players with a visit.

“This late in the season it’s good to break things up and get out of the routine a little bit,” Walton said. “Any time we can ever do anything with the military, I’m all for it. I think guys that were on the base really enjoyed having us in there as a group. I had a great time. It looked like the players were having a good time. It was a good way to spend an afternoon.”

Walton said the Lakers got a taste of what life was like for those stationed at the base. They learned more about their day-to-day responsibilities. Any more than that, Walton wouldn’t say.

“That’s national security secrets,” he said, lightly. “They can trust me. Some of the guys on the team I was surprised they let on the base.”

It’s not the first time Walton canceled practice for a team-building activity. The Lakers opted for a yoga session in downtown Los Angeles earlier this season instead of a weekend practice.

“We have five games left; where we’re at, player development is still the most important thing for us,” Walton said before Wednesday’s game. “Doing things like that are great for the guys. We’re going to have plenty of practice time together [this summer] so it wasn’t the end of the world not to have a practice.”

tania.ganguli@latimes.com

Follow Tania Ganguli on Twitter @taniaganguli