Kobe Bryant’s playing time during Lakers grueling stretch not determined
Lakers Coach Byron Scott and Kobe Bryant will figure the guard’s playing time as the season, and an eight-game trip, unfold.
Faced with back-to-back games this weekend and an eight-game trip starting next week, Lakers Coach Byron Scott has been mulling how much Kobe Bryant should play during the grueling stretch.
To be sure, there won’t be any changes to Bryant’s status, Scott said. But the immediate question for Scott is should Bryant also play Sunday against Indiana at home after playing Saturday night at Portland?
“The plan is to play one of the two,” Scott said after practice Friday. “We’ll figure that out tomorrow. But right now, I’m just taking it a game at a time. So obviously he’ll play [Saturday] and then we’ll see how he feels Sunday and we’ll go from there.”
From there, the Lakers start a trip in which they play five games in seven days. They will play three sets of back-to-back games on the trip, meaning Scott might have to figure out when to sit Bryant.
Scott said Bryant scrimmaged Friday and participated in “75%” of the practice.
Bryant didn’t practice Wednesday with the Lakers and the team took Thursday off, giving him three days to rest his 37-year-old body in between games.
“I think if you give him too much rest, then his timing is even that much more off,” Scott said. “I don’t want to work him too hard to where now the timing is not that much of an issue, but the rest is. So it’s a hell of a balance to try to do. It’s hard.
“But the one thing about KB, he’s willing to do it, whatever I ask him to do. And you know he’s going to come ready to play. It’s just a matter of trying to keep him as fresh as possible and keep his timing and the rust off as much as possible.”
Scott said he’s not going to reduce Bryant’s playing time because he has decided “how much he’s going to play per quarter and I’ll stick with that for as much as I can.”
Bryant is averaging 30.5 minutes per game and 15.2 points per game on 31.1% shooting.
Changes coming?
A four-game losing streak has forced Scott to consider lineup changes.
He is thinking about altering his rotation and adjusting playing time, but Scott said that will happen only if the Lakers continue their poor play.
“I just think about basketball sometimes and what could help us out of this funk and what could make us better,” Scott said. “Sometimes that’s making adjustments with your minutes with certain guys. Sometimes it’s making lineup changes. All those things I think about. But I’m not there yet.
“I’m thinking about getting there, but I’m thinking about a few more games first. It might take me another week or two. But like I said, the biggest thing when I look at all this and I talk about all this, it’s [still] to continue to be patient.”
LAKERS UP NEXT
at Portland
When: 7 p.m. PST, Saturday.
Where: Moda Center.
On the air: TV: TWC SportsNet, TWC Deportes; Radio: 710, 1330.
Records: Lakers 2-12, Trail Blazers 6-10.
Record vs. Trail Blazers: 0-1.
Update: Lakers Coach Byron Scott said his team is “desperate” to get a win. They have four consecutive losses, all of them by double digits. The average margin of defeat is by 19.5 points per game. The Lakers have lost six straight to the Trail Blazers and 14 of their last 18 in Portland.
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