D’Angelo Russell says he’ll have to manage foot soreness for remainder of season

The Lakers were boosted by the return of D’Angelo Russell on Wednesday, but his left foot injury is one he’ll likely have to manage the rest of the season.

One of the rarest things for the Lakers this season has been having their Big Three healthy and available at the same time. Since the trade deadline, LeBron James and D’Angelo Russell have more or less alternated being available and being on the injury report.

Wednesday marked one of the handfuls of times they’ve both been available as the Lakers took on the Clippers. When the trio has been together, they’ve largely been good with the Clippers loss being more the exception than the rule.

Keeping them together, healthy and on the floor is the challenge for the Lakers moving forward. However, it’s not going to be a particularly easy challenge for a number of reasons, one of those being D’Lo’s foot injury that he provided an update on after Wednesday’s game.

There are a number of reasons the Lakers should look to avoid the play-in game, but one of the bigger benefits would be the extra time off. Teams not taking part in the play-in games will have about a week of rest and, boy, few teams could use that more than the Lakers.

Between LeBron nursing his own foot injury, D’Lo having his and the general wear and tear of the season, the Lakers would be well served to have a week off. They don’t control their own destiny in that regard, which makes Wednesday’s loss all the more frustrating, but considering where they stand with regard to injuries, all the added rest they can get, the better.

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