Lakers Notebook: Walton out with right ankle sprain



Luke Walton tested his sprained right ankle during the Los Angeles Lakers' shootaround Sunday morning. He could jump, but not very high. He could run, but not very fast. He could cut, but not very well.

So, he and the Los Angeles Lakers' athletic training staff decided it was best that he not play Sunday night against the Golden State Warriors.

"It's not a terrible one," he said of his sprain. "But playing basketball, you've got to be able to cut and run and jump. I tried to do it in the shootaround and couldn't do any of it. I could do it, but it was at, like, 50 percent."

Walton said he hopes to play Thursday against the San Antonio Spurs, which would give him almost a week to recover from his injury. He was hurt when his ankle buckled late in a scrimmage Friday.

"It was no good," he said. "My ankle just gave out in practice."

The minute(s) man

Derek Fisher's playing time has fallen in each of the last three seasons, which have been spent with three different teams. He was averaging 11.6 points and 3.0 assists in 26.3 minutes going into Sunday's game against Golden State.

Last season, Fisher averaged 9.5 points and 3.3 assists in 27.9 minutes with the Utah Jazz, which was down from 13.3 points and 4.3 assists in 31.6 minutes with the Warriors in 2005-06.

Los Angeles Lakers coach Phil Jackson said he has reduced Fisher's minutes because he wants to give backup point guard Jordan Farmar plenty of minutes. Jordan Farmar is averaging 9.8 points in 20.7 minutes. Jackson also wants to keep the 33-year-old Fisher fresh.

"I think I'm using him the right way," Jackson said. "We should watch his minutes so it doesn't get over 30. Big minutes could effect his shooting."

Fisher was shooting 50.7 percent from the field and a team-leading 94.5 percent from the free-throw line going into Sunday's game.

A different matchup

The Warriors pose matchup problems for most teams, mainly because Golden State coach Don Nelson is willing to alter his rotation in unconventional ways. One of them involves combating size and strength by using smaller, faster players.

"Over the years, having coached against Nelson, there's always a mismatch he tries to throw out there," Jackson said. "He'll put (guard) Baron Davis on a forward, so you have to cross-match. There's always the idea that he wants to go smaller and smaller to try to get you to match up with his players.

"I've tried to resist that, but a lot of coaches get caught up in it. Eventually, you get caught with five little guys out there and your offense suffers. You have to be able to match up, but not break down. I think we'll be OK."

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