NEW YORK — After being sidelined for most of the season because of left knee ailments, Gabe Vincent could return to the court in the Lakers’ Sunday road game against the Brooklyn Nets.
Vincent was listed on Saturday’s injury report as questionable for Sunday’s game at Barclays Center after missing the last 46 games.
He joined the team in Indianapolis ahead of Friday’s 109-90 road loss to the Indiana Pacers as part of the team’s six-game trip.
Vincent didn’t play against the Pacers, but coach Darvin Ham said Vincent increased his workload before rejoining the team.
“Right now we’re just taking things one day at a time,” Ham said before the loss to the Pacers. “He’s increased his workload. So we’re in the process of trying to see how his body responds to that workload. And that’s as far as it goes for now.”
After playing in the season’s first four games, Vincent was sidelined for seven weeks because of a left knee effusion (swollen joint).
He returned in the Dec. 20 road loss to the Chicago Bulls, playing 14 minutes, and he hasn’t played since.
Vincent had left knee surgery on Dec. 27, with the team announcing at the time that he’d be reevaluated in approximately eight weeks.
He signed a three-year, $33 million contract with the Lakers as a free agent during the offseason, with the expectation that he’d be the primary backup guard.
“I really don’t want to even get into it too much,” star forward LeBron James said when asked about Vincent. “Don’t put too much pressure on him. When he’s ready to go, it will be a bonus for our team but he’s been out for quite a while.
“So, whenever he’s ready, we’ll welcome him back with open arms as a brother of ours, as a teammate of ours and we’ve been waiting on him, but at the end of the day, we’re putting no pressure on him. He needs to take his time.”
The Lakers lacked the necessary energy to keep up with the fast-paced Pacers, leading to their winning streak ending at five games.
“We were running in mud a little bit,” Ham said. “Third game, four nights. But overall, we’ve been playing some great basketball. We’ll get our treatments, we’ll get our nutrition, our recovery going, and be ready to bounce back on Sunday.”
The Lakers will close out their trip against three sub-.500 teams: the Nets (28-45), the Toronto Raptors (23-50) on Tuesday and the Washington Wizards (14-60) on Thursday.
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“That right there is not the thinking,” James said. “That can’t be the thing – saying we’re playing against sub-.500 teams because that will get you burnt every time. We got to play our game. We got to understand that Brooklyn beat us last time when we played them in L.A., so we look forward to that challenge.
“They got some guys that can beat you – Cam Thomas and [Dennis Schröder] is on the squad as well so you know he’s always looking forward to playing us. Mikal Bridges and those guys are pros just like we are so we got to be ready for that game on Sunday.”
LAKERS AT NETS
When: 3 p.m. PT Sunday
Where: Barclays Center, New York
TV/radio: Spectrum Sports Net/710 AM