Lakers Turiaf may miss tonight’s game; Odom in as replacement

After Lakers’ forward Ronny Turiaf sprained his ankle at Thursday’s practice, odds are he will be sitting out tonight’s game against the Detroit Pistons, according to an article published Friday on the Lakers official Web site.

“I’m not happy about that,” Lakers coach Phil Jackson said after the practice. “I just spent some time in there and chances are that he’s going to miss tomorrow’s game. The good thing is that we got on it right away and there’s not a great deal of swelling.”The absence of Turiaf, who has started every game of the season and averaged 9.3 points  and 5.3 rebounds per game in as little as 24 minutes of play,  will most likely hurt the Lakers, but Jackson seems confident that Lamar Odom can step into the role and pull through for the team - even though Odom is still recovering from shoulder surgery, which he underwent during off-season.

When asked if he thought Odom would be comfortable in the position, Jackson said: “Probably more so than the spot he’s playing, he’ll probably be more comfortable there, but this is not a game in which playing Rasheed Wallace is a great option.

Now is the best time to be sure to score a pair of Lakers tickets for the next home game. Get all the best deals at Stubhub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on November 16, 2007 - Post a comment