Orange County Register

EL SEGUNDO — Pau Gasol had the expected final strong practice Wednesday and barring any surprise developments will start at power forward for the Lakers on Thursday night against Chicago. Lamar Odom will move back to his bench role.

How much Gasol plays will be determined by his conditioning and the course of the game. Gasol hasn’t had much trouble with wind in his career, but he has had a long layoff since injuring his right hamstring on Oct. 13. Asked if his conditioning is OK, he said: “OK is being generous, I think.”

Gasol said the hamstring felt “great,” even though it is tight and needs to warm up to loosen up. He said it’ll probably take a game or two for his conditioning to return and his rhythm for the game to come back, too.

“I’ve been wanting to play since Day One, but the muscle wasn’t ready; it wasn’t healed,” Gasol said.

Gasol said he has been “grumpy” and “cranky” without basketball the past month or so. But now? “I’m a happy man.”

DJ Mbenga will fall back out of the Lakers’ rotation, and Josh Powell will see fewer minutes. The formation of the starting unit changes without Odom’s guard skills, so Kobe Bryant will have to handle the ball more.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.