Lakers' Kobe, Gasol In Starting Lineup Against Wizards
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com/AP) -- The Los Angeles Lakers appear close to having their four stars together on the floor again.
Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol will both return from injuries as the Lakers try for an eighth straight home win Friday night against the Washington Wizards.
Los Angeles coach Mike D'Antoni said Gasol and Bryant will be in Friday nights starting lineup. Bryant missed the last two games and three quarters of another after he sprained his ankle at Atlanta on March 13. Gasol, meanwhile, has sat the last 20 with a torn plantar fascia.
Gasol, Bryant, Dwight Howard and Steve Nash have not played together since Jan. 30 for the Lakers (36-33), who have won 19 of 27 and currently own the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Those four and Metta World Peace have played just 17 games together and not made up the starting lineup since Jan. 20.
"If our minds and hearts are into it, we can be a heck of a team and we can beat anybody," Gasol told the Lakers' official website. "We have too many guys who can put the ball in the hole for us to focus on one or two guys mainly. Once we share the ball and we really want to defend, get back in transition and limit our turnovers, we're a tough team."
Regardless when Gasol returns, D'Antoni said the 7-footer would eventually start alongside Howard. Gasol begrudgingly came off the bench for seven games in January when D'Antoni felt he wasn't completely healthy.
"There were a lot of decisions made when Steve Nash wasn't 100 percent on the floor, when Dwight Howard wasn't 100 percent, when Pau wasn't 100 percent," D'Antoni said. "When they're all 100 percent, it can work."
Playing its ninth game in 14 days, Los Angeles ran out of gas during Monday's 99-76 loss at Phoenix. Nash scored 19 and Howard added 16 with 11 rebounds but the Lakers shot 33.3 percent - their second-lowest effort of the season - and committed 18 turnovers.
"We just hit the wall," Nash said. "With some guys being injured, we've been playing a seven-man rotation and I think it caught up with us a little bit."
Though Howard went 6 of 18 from the field, he's scored at least 16 points six times and averaged 15.1 boards while recording eight straight double-doubles.
The Lakers have averaged 108.8 points and shot 49.0 percent during their longest home winning stretch since a 10-game run last season.
Nash is averaging 18.0 points on 56.5 percent shooting in the last five at Staples Center.
Los Angeles has won four straight at home and 10 of 11 overall against the Wizards (24-43). Bryant scored 30 in the Lakers' 102-96 win at Washington on Dec. 14.
Point guard John Wall was still recovering from an offseason knee injury then, but the Wizards are 19-15 since his season debut. He had 19 points and eight assists as Washington held Phoenix to 33.7 percent shooting to win for the fourth time in five games, 88-79 on Wednesday.
The Wizards have allowed fewer than 88 points in half of their last 10 contests.
"Defensively, that's what we take our pride in," said Wall, who is averaging 23.3 points on 57.1 percent shooting and 9.5 assists over the last six games. "When we play defense, we feel we can beat anybody."
Wall had 22 points and 14 assists in his only game against the Lakers at Staples, a 115-108 loss on Dec. 7, 2010.
The Wizards could be without second-leading scorer Bradley Beal (13.9 points per game) after the rookie left Wednesday with a sprained ankle.
