Blake considered day-to-day with rib injury

Published Jan. 12, 2012 3:13 p.m. ET

foxsports

It's possible the Lakers will lose yet another player on their
depleted roster when they host the Cleveland Cavaliers on Friday at
Staples Center.

An MRI exam Thursday revealed guard Steve Blake has a costrochaondral
fracture, which is the portion of the cartilage that connects the rib
to the sternum. The Lakers are listing him as day-to-day. The team
indicated Blake suffered the injury during the Lakers' 99-83 victory
Tuesday against the Phoenix Suns, and then later aggravated it during
the Lakers' 90-87 overtime victory over the Utah Jazz.

Blake left that game with 21 seconds left in the third quarter and
favored his midsection while Lakers trainer Gary Vitti attended him on
the sideline. Although Blake returned to the bench, he didn't play the
rest of the game.

The Lakers have already experienced plenty of absences with their
personnel. Forward Josh McRoberts has missed the past six games because
of a sprained big toe in his left foot. Forward Troy Murphy has sat out
the past two because gastroenteritis, while forward Jason Kapono
remained absent for those games well for personal reasons involving the
recent birth of his twin girls. Meanwhile, reserve forward Derrick
Caracter has remained sidelined since the beginning of training camp
because of a torn meniscus in his left knee, but the Lakers expect to
clear him for running exercises by the end of this week.

Blake's possible absence hinders or even limitation severely weakens
the Lakers' backcourt. Blake has averaged 7.3 points on 40.2% shooting
and has often eaten into Derek Fisher's playing time, as the Lakers'
starter has struggled with his shooting and conditioning. Rookie point
guard Darius Morris played in his first NBA game against Utah, posting
four points on a two of two clip, two assists and two turnovers in 13
minutes.

--Mark Medina