Lakers trail Phoenix at halftime, 62-57, as Bryant sits out
With Kobe Braynt sidelined by a sore left shin, the Lakers trail the Phoenix Suns, 62-57, at halftime on Saturday night at US Airways Center.
Bryant sat out the game because of a condition called “tenosynovitis” in the shin.
There is no timetable for his return, though he will be re-evaluated Monday in New Orleans before the Lakers play the Hornets that night.
Devin Ebanks started in his place and had 10 points in the first half. Pau Gasol had 16 points and Andrew Bynum had 12, but the Lakers couldn’t play any defense in the first half.
A pair of backups were doing in the Lakers. Michael Redd had 17 points and Sebastian Telfair added 12 for the Suns.
Bryant was kicked in the shin last Saturday against New Orleans and the sensitivity in the area became progressively worse. The Lakers tried putting him in a walking boot a few days later, and he felt better between games, but he would feel pain again after a game.
Tenosynovitis is a condition in which a tendon sheath becomes inflamed, causing pain whenever the tendon slides in and out of the sheath. Bryant was noticeably limping in the fourth quarter of the Lakers’ 112-107 loss to Houston on Friday.
“It’s very painful,” said longtime Lakers trainer Gary Vitti. “He’s been playing with this and it’s not getting any better. Really the only way to stop it is to shut him down. That’s why we put him in a boot. But we put him in the boot, he comes out, he feels better and then he plays and we’re back to square one.”
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