SERIES REPORT

Just as Karl Malone appeared to recover from his ankle sprain, fellow power forward Slava Medvedenko strained his Achilles’ tendon Monday night, and the Lakers remained thin along the front line.

Medvedenko, particularly valuable to the Lakers as a jump shooter and offensive rebounder, took some treatment at the team’s facility in El Segundo on Tuesday, but Coach Phil Jackson said there had been no overnight improvement.

Trainer Gary Vitti had guessed as much Monday night, saying the Achilles’ tendon is slow to heal.

Medvedenko is questionable for Game 3 Friday night in Houston. The Lakers have won the first two games of the best-of-seven series.

Derek Fisher (groin, etc.), Rick Fox (thumb) and Devean George (calf) also received treatment Tuesday. Malone took a portable stimulation unit with him after Monday’s 98-84 victory and treated himself at home.

“I would feel better if Slava hadn’t hurt himself in the game last night,” Jackson said Tuesday. “He’s no better today. That’s a concern for us. We hope the time he has to ... recover is going to be adequate. We may have to watch him very closely Friday in that ballgame.”

That, Jackson says, is assuming he plays.

“It’s obviously a very serious situation,” he said. “The Achilles’ is one of those injuries you really have to be careful with.”

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Luke Walton, the last player on the practice floor Sunday afternoon, made the three-point shot that helped put the Rockets away on Monday night.

“It was great,” he said. “It felt great. They called a timeout and I couldn’t help smiling.”

The Laker reserves, Walton included, have had an impact on a series that hasn’t turned entirely on the likes of Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal and Yao Ming.

From the three-point arc, Kareem Rush is four for six and Fisher is three for three. Overall, the Laker bench has made nine of 11 three-pointers, is 18 for 37 from the floor and has outscored the Rocket reserves, 50-31.

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Today will be the 10th day of Bryant’s decision to avoid most of the media, limiting his public statements since April 11 to one radio show and a handful of brief on-floor television interviews.

“That doesn’t affect me,” Jackson said, adding later, “If a player makes that decision, I don’t try and work against him on that. That’s a decision he has to make. He’ll break out of it in due time and move forward from there. He just has to get some distance from that situation.”

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Marge Hearn and Times staff writer Steve Springer will sign “Chick,” their book on the life and times of Chick Hearn, Sunday from noon to 1 p.m. at the Team L.A. Store at Universal City Walk.