Marcus Smart estimated hell be limited to about 20 to 25 minutes in his Lakers preseason debut Tuesday night against the Phoenix Suns as he returns from Achilles tendinopathy.
Speaking after the teams shootaround Tuesday, the 31-year-old guard said the rash of Achilles injuries suffered by NBA stars recently including three during the playoffs last season made his initial diagnosis frightening, but he took a cautious approach with the Lakers staff to ensure he was ready for the season.
It wasn’t scary in the fact of understanding that tendinopathy, we all kind of have it playing over the time, said Smart, who is entering his 12th NBA season. Just making sure you do everything you need to do, to make sure that you can get back out here, or to be able to say, No, I can’t. So you got to test it, unfortunately, and you got to see where youre at. So we’ve done all the tests on the court, off the court and we’re feeling fast, feeling good so we want to give it a shot.
Guard Luka Doncic is also expected to make his preseason debut after he was on a modified training schedule following a busy summer spent with the Slovenian national team. Coach JJ Redick said Monday after practice that Doncic and the teams training staff had yet to determine a minutes restriction on Doncic, but expects that the five-time All-Star will see an increased workload by the time he suits up again for his second preseason game.
The Lakers will follow Tuesdays game in Phoenix with a game against Doncics former team, the Dallas Mavericks, in Las Vegas on Wednesday. Because of the back-to-back schedule, its likely Doncic will play again Friday at Crypto.com Arena against the Sacramento Kings.
Since they are playing four games in six days, the Lakers ruled out guard Gabe Vincent, forwards Rui Hachimura and Jarred Vanderbilt and center Jaxson Hayes for Tuesdays preseason game.
Rookie guard Adou Thiero [knee] has progressed to on-court activities, the team announced Tuesday, after the second-round draft pick was battling swelling in a knee. He will be re-evaluated in two to three weeks.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.