Horry Cleared to Keep Playing

Additional tests taken Monday shed no new light on the troublesome injury in the groin area that has plagued Robert Horry for nearly three weeks, but the starting power forward said he expects to return to practice today and play Wednesday at Phoenix, even while facing the possibility of finishing the season in pain and then having surgery in the summer.

What was originally thought to be a strained abdominal muscle and then a slight hernia has now been determined to be a problem with a vein near the groin. It was aggravated Sunday against the Houston Rockets, causing Horry so much pain he crumbled to court with 9:55 in the third quarter and was held out for the rest of the game because Coach Del Harris did not want to take any chances. Monday, Horry said he felt fine, that he would have been well enough to practice if not for the appointment with a urologist for further examination.

“It kind of makes me feel bad,” Horry said. “It hurts, but they don’t know what it is and nothing shows up [on the tests].

“To them it’s a mystery. To everyone it’s a mystery.”

So are the long-term implications.

“They said I might have to have surgery,” he said. “But we really don’t know. It’s something they’re still diagnosing.”

*

Nick Van Exel, whose left knee has been a cause for concern through most of the season, is now feeling what the Lakers say is a “popping sensation” in the right knee and will have an MRI exam today. That will determine whether he will have to miss any time or play through it, as has usually been the case with the other leg.