Pau Gasol spent another game night stretching, warming up and working out on an elliptical machine before joining the team on the bench.
How many more nights will the Lakers forward spend in the training room rather than on the court? Good question.
Gasol said before Sunday’s game he is taking his recovery from a strained hamstring slowly because when he tried to rush back after straining his other hamstring during the preseason, it set him back. He has said the strain in his left hamstring is much milder than the other one.
“(Before) I was out a little longer because of testing it too many times and trying to take steps forward every single day,” Gasol said. “I’m being extra cautious because of what I went through with the other one.”
Gasol said he continues to feel a pull in his left hamstring and experienced soreness after a brief time running on the treadmill Saturday.
“As long as I feel that and have a matter of discomfort and it increases when you do activity, you are not in a good place. It is the wrong place to be,” he said.
“We’ll see how the workout goes tonight. If there’s soreness or discomfort and I feel it’s not appropriate to practice, I won’t.”
Gasol is finding it difficult not to push himself after watching the Lakers lose two in a row — to the Clippers and Trail Blazers.
“It’s been very hard to be there and see the team not playing well and losing and I’m not being out there,” Gasol said. “It’s extremely hard. I wish we had won the games I’m not playing so I could focus on my recovery and not have to go through the stress of watching the team have trouble and not being able to help.”
Posts
