LOS ANGELES — Lakers point guard D’Angelo Russell will not play against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night because of a sore right hip, coach Darvin Ham said.
“He was evaluated today, has a little something going on with his hip, so it’s best that we hold him out tonight,” Ham said.
Ham said Russell aggravated his hip against the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday amid a brilliant performance in which he scored 26 points on 9-for-13 shooting with six assists in 34 minutes. Ham said Russell will be day-to-day moving forward. The Lakers’ next game is Sunday, at home against the Chicago Bulls.
Friday will be Russell’s seventh missed game since he joined the Lakers following a trade deadline deal with the Minnesota Timberwolves. He’s averaged 18.6 points on 47.1% shooting (39.5% from 3) and 6.4 assists in the 11 games since the deal, with the Lakers going 7-4.
Ham said Dennis Schroder, who scored 26 points in a win in Oklahoma City the last time these teams played March 1, would start in Russell’s place.
Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who was listed as questionable with an abdominal strain, will play and not be under any minutes restriction, according to Oklahoma City coach Mark Daigneault.
The Lakers and Thunder entered Friday’s game with identical 36-37 records, tied for No. 10 in the Western Conference — representing the final play-in spot. Beyond standings implications, Friday’s game will settle the season series tiebreaker for the two teams, as they came in 1-1 against each other.