Steve Nash played his 10th game for the Lakers Tuesday night (maybe now some Lakers fans will finally let go of the medical retirement stuff that was never going to happen anyway).
And he aggravated his nerve root injury. Again.
Nash tried to play through it but that didn’t work. He said the back issue that leads to tightness in his hamstring bothered him before the game; he played for a half but looked slow and was ineffective. Nobody was giving specifics to the Los Angeles Times but it sounds to me like he sits out Thursday against Oklahoma City and returns after the All-Star break.
“I think I need a little more time to get over the hump,” he told The Times…
“I imagine it’s day to day. I don’t know anything else,” Lakers Coach Mike D’Antoni said of Nash’s status. “I haven’t really talked to him.”
The Lakers are 8-15 at home this season and have dropped six in a row. Oklahoma City coming to town with the red-hot Kevin Durant is not likely to help that situation.
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Having Nash back might not help much either, unless he is 100 percent. He looked pretty good on his 40th birthday when he scored 19 and had five assists against Philadelphia, but his nerve issue flared up when he was bumped by Kirk Hinrich in a physical game against the Bulls (all games against the Bulls are physical). Since then Nash hasn’t looked right.
No, this doesn’t mean Nash is seriously considering retirement yet.
The Lakers should have Steve Blake and Jordan Farmar healthy and able to join Kendall Marshall in the backcourt against the Thunder.
