Forward Rashard Lewis says his sore right foot would not keep him out of a playoff game, if one was scheduled for today.
Still, the nagging injury has caused Lewis to miss Seattle’s past three games and he will miss at least two more this week, beginning with today’s contest at Golden State.
Lewis had a bone scan on Saturday, which involved an injection of dye into his foot, to get further information about an injury that is believed to be a bruised bone and tendon in the area between his big toe and arch. He is also expected to have a CAT scan on Monday.
“I heal pretty fast,” Lewis said Saturday, “so I was looking forward to taking a few days off (for road games at Memphis and San Antonio last week) and then getting right back on the court. But I guess that’s not the situation now. We just have to take this test and figure out what’s going on.
“My main focus is getting myself ready for the playoffs. I don’t want to sit out for the rest of the (regular) season. I want to play a couple more games so I can stay in some kind of shape and still have my rhythm.”
Lewis has also been bothered by tendinitis in his left knee most of the season. Days of rest might help that injury, too, although “I don’t think the tendinitis is going to go away,” he said. “I think I’ll have to wait until the end of the season to get a lot of rest. But I can play with the tendinitis. That’s something I’ve been doing for the past couple of months. But my main focus right now is my right foot.”
Lewis did not accompany the team to California for the two-game trip. The Sonics have said he is out “indefinitely,” which means he might be able to return for Friday’s home game against the L.A. Lakers.
Great opportunity: With the injuries to small forwards Lewis and Vlade Radmanovic (stress fracture, right leg), rookie Damien Wilkins got his first NBA start against Portland on Friday and played well.
Wilkins will be back in the opening lineup against Golden State, coach Nate McMillan said Saturday, and perhaps as long as Lewis is sidelined.
On the road trip to Memphis and San Antonio, McMillan tried using Ray Allen at small forward and Flip Murray at Allen’s usual shooting guard spot, but with that lineup “we’re really small,” the coach said. “Damien gives us a little more size. He’s out there scoring, rebounding, defending bigger players.”
Fortson ailing: Forward Danny Fortson suffered a strained shoulder during Friday’s game with Portland and is questionable to play against the Warriors today.
Fortson, who got his arm tangled with a Portland’s Shareef Abdur-Rahim in a rebound tussle, sat out Saturday’s practice because he could not lift his arm above his head. His availability will be a game-time decision, McMillan said.
Friday’s game was just Fortson’s second in a stretch of 16 days due to an injury and disciplinary issues, and it looked like it.
“He didn’t look like he had his wind,” McMillan acknowledged. “But I thought he came in and scrapped. Both him and Nick Collison turned the game around. That scrappy play, when both of them were in there, of getting stops and offensive rebounds, it changed the game.”
Scouting report: Some six weeks ago, the Warriors were fading fast in the Western Conference standings. They were 14-38 in mid-February and there were questions whether first-year coach Mike Montgomery, the former Stanford coach, would survive the season.
Today Golden State is one of the NBA’s hottest teams.
The turnabout coincides almost exactly with the trade that brought guard Baron Davis to the Warriors for guard Speedy Claxton and center/forward Dale Davis. Golden State has won 13 of its past 20 games, including seven of eight and four in a row.
Baron Davis, “when he has his game, is one of the best guards in the league,” McMillan said. “He can get anywhere he wants with the ball. He’s strong, he can post you up, he delivers the ball, he can defend. He’s very good.”
Davis teams with Jason Richardson in the starting backcourt, with venerable Derek Fisher playing from the bench, and those three give the Warriors one of the NBA’s top guard trios.
The Warriors “got off to a slow start this season due to some injuries and a coaching change, but they’ve won some good games,” McMillan said. “They’re still playing, still competing.”
Rich Myhre, Herald Writer
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