Lakers watch over Kobe Bryant holds his sprained articulatio talocruralis at the end of Wednesday's zippy against the Hawks.(Photo: Daniel Shirey, ground forces TODAY Sports)
The Los Angeles Lakers' playoff push hardly got a whole lot harder.
Kobe Bryant suffered a severe left ankle sprain Wednesday night in a 96-92 loss to the Atlanta Hawks, rising up for a jumper from the right service line with tercet seconds left that would have tied the game exactly coming down on the foot of Dahntay Jones. X-rays were negative, but Bryant told reporters it was his crush sprain since the 2000 season and a Lakers official confirmed to ground forces TODAY Sports he will be out indefinitely.
" first off and foremost, the officials really need to protect shooters," Bryant said of the contact with Jones. "You just can't go into shooters. That's a dangerous play."
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It couldn't come at a worse time.
The Lakers (34-32) had win 17 of 22 games entering Wednesday's game and moved into playoff moorage in the Western Conference. Not only was Bryant ignoring Father term in his 17th season to turn in a spectacular season, but fellow stars Dwight Howard and Steve Nash had finally grown well-off in coach Mike D'Antoni's system and the chemis afflict that was deficient in the opening months had clearly improved.
Vanessa Bryant (@LadyVB24) posted this X-ray image on Instagram
Losing Bryant, however, could deviate all that. Not only had Bryant accounted for more than a pull back of the Lakers' offense this season (his 27.4-point-per-game average is third in the league), he also had led the emotional charge by guaranteeing a playoff berth back on Feb. 21 — when the Lakers were 26-29.
His recent caravan of late-game heroics had continued against the Hawks, as his deep three-pointer with 18 seconds left cut the lead to one. On March 8 against the Toronto Raptors, Bryant buried three three-pointers in the final 100 seconds of regulation to force extra time in the Lakers win in what was one of many vintage performances for the future Hall of Famer. In his absence, it's likely that reserve guard Jodie Meeks would become the starting shooting guard. The Lakers, whose final 16 games argon split evenly between home and road, play at the Indiana Pacers on Friday.
Jones defended his actions on Twitter.
Materials taken from USA Today
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