Getty Avery Bradley Guarding Steph Curry.
The Los Angeles Lakers could be welcoming Avery Bradley back to the lineup as soon as Wednesday.
Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times reported that Bradley was “cleared for full-contact practices” following the Lakers return from their three-game road trip. He has a solid chance to return against the Orlando Magic this week as the team embarks on a five-game Eastern Conference swing.
Avery Bradley, who had a hairline fracture in his leg, was re-evaluated today and cleared for full contact. He’s still out for tomorrow’s game, but if all goes well over the next few days could be probable for Wednesday’s game in Orlando.
Bradley has missed a dozen games with a hairline fracture in his right leg. He played through the injury for a few games with it initially being referred to as a bruise, later learning of the fracture. He has been doing on-court work since last week.
Bradley has a reputation as one of best defenders in the league and earned a place in the Lakers starting lineup because of it. He’s started all 10 games he played in this season, averaging over 28 minutes per game.
The Lakers were the top rated defensive team in the league with Bradley in the lineup. They’re now third in the league in defensive efficiency, allowing 102.8 points per 100 possessions.
There was also some concern over veteran point guard Rajon Rondo, who sat out the second half against Portland. However, it was just a sore hamstring and he assured it’s nothing serious.
“Just tightness,” Rondo told reporters. “I’ve been feeling it for a couple weeks now, but tonight I just told ’em I should probably call it tonight after halftime.”
Avery Bradley Inspires Lakers Challenge
After walloping the Portland Trail Blazers to close out a 3-0 road trip on Friday, Lakers star Anthony David revealed that Bradley has inspired the “Avery Challenge,” where the team attempts to have the best defensive rating in the league.
“Ever since Avery went out, our defense took a hit a little bit,” Lakers star Anthony Davis told reporters after the team’s 136-113 win against the Portland Trail Blazers.
“We have our mind set on something special,” AD says. In this video he also explains “the Avery challenge.”
“We want to go out there and be the best team,” Davis said. “We want to go out there winning each quarter. We want to be out there diving on the floor. We want to win in hustle points. We want to win in rebounding. All the little things. If we continue to do that we’ll be fine.”
Avery Bradley Sets the Tone for Lakers, Frank Vogel Says
The Lakers have reeled off a 20-3 start, so it’s scary to think what the addition of Bradley could do to help the team improve further.
Lakers head coach Frank Vogel had very high praise for Bradley upon the news of his impending return.
“Avery Bradley has really a one-of-a-kind ability to just set a tone defensively with his tenacity in picking the ball up full court,” Vogel said. “And just everybody understands you can’t dribble the basketball around the guy. So I think that just impacts the overall energy of the group, and I think our guys have worked hard to overcome that.
“Just having another elite defender out there, it just puts some more pressure on everything else.”
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