Steve Nash out for regular-season finale against Houston Rockets
Steve Nash will not play in the Lakers’ final regular-season game against the Houston Rockets on Wednesday.
“He’s going to be out tomorrow,” Coach Mike D’Antoni said after practice Tuesday.
Nash has felt soreness in his hip and hamstring since the Lakers’ March 28 visit to the Milwaukee Bucks. He tried to play the following game, on March 30, against the Sacramento Kings but couldn’t play for two full minutes and hasn’t played since.
[Updated, 3:49 p.m., April 16: The Lakers announced Tuesday an MRI exam confirmed Nash is dealing with “several preexisting issues related to his hip and back, which are causing nerve irritation and contributing to his hamstring pain and weakness.”
Nash received an epidural injection Tuesday. The team hopes “he will be able to return to play in the next several days.”]
Wednesday’s game will be the eighth straight game missed by the veteran point guard. Steve Blake will continue to start in his place.
“He’s working through some issues,” D’Antoni of Nash. “Hopefully if there’s anything after tomorrow then he might be ready -- hopefully he’ll be ready.”
The Lakers (44-37) will finish ahead of both the Rockets (45-36) and the ninth-place Utah Jazz (44-38) with a win. A loss, coupled with a Jazz win, would knock the Lakers completely out of the playoffs.
If the Lakers finish in seventh place, they’ll start the postseason against the San Antonio Spurs. Eighth place would mean the Oklahoma City Thunder -- while ninth place turns into an early summer vacation.
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Email Eric Pincus at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter @EricPincus.
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