Rajon Rondo of the Lakers has been upgraded to questionable for Game 2 vs Trail Blazers

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Florida – Under 0-1 in the NBA first-round playoff series with the Portland Trail Blazers, the Los Angeles Lakers lineup may look a little different for Thursday’s second game (9:00 PM ET, ESPN) .

Point guard Rajon Rondo, sidelined in the past 5 and a half weeks due to a broken thumb in his right hand that forced him to leave the bubble to undergo surgery, has been deemed questionable for Game 2 by the team.

“Rondo is working very hard to come back and we will have him back when he is ready, not sooner,” Lakers manager Frank Vogel said Wednesday after practice. “We will list it as questionable, which by definition means 50-50.”

Vogel praised the 14-year veteran.

“Whenever you have someone who has the ability to create like Rondo does, it helps your attack,” he said. “Certainly Rondo would help everything we do.”

LA could use the help. The Lakers spent a portion of their practice time in a lively cinematic session, cutting the tape of their disappointing 100-93 Game 1 defeat in which LA shot 35.1% from the field, 15.6% from 3 and 64.5% from the foul line.

“They were all talking,” Lakers center JaVale McGee said, rattling off LeBron James, Danny Green, Alex Caruso and Rondo among the more opinionated. “Whenever the coach starts a movie, he always says it’s not a good movie session if everyone is quiet, coaches and players. We tend to be vocal.”

Kyle Kuzma wasn’t shy about talking about his role when asked about the starting lineup, but he volunteered to join the Lakers’ first unit who found themselves nine points down in the first quarter on Tuesday before Vogel made a substitution. .

“I’m sure I say ‘Yes’, but I’m not the manager,” Kuzma said when asked if he could help the starters. “I’m just a player. So, I only do what they ask me to do. This is my job. Star in my role. Play with effort, play with enthusiasm, and if they call me to start, then Obviously you guys have seen that. what I did, what I do, I arrive and try to be myself. So play hard and play with a free spirit. “

Vogel wouldn’t reveal if he planned lineup changes, but he acknowledged that a regular season rotation doesn’t always work in the playoffs.

“It is appropriate when needed and in any series with any team, it would be something that I consider and evaluate based on a certain match,” he said. “The way you started over the course of a season isn’t always the way you stay through a seven-game streak. But as a top-seeded 1 and best-record team in the West, I have faith in the line-up we have. Yes. But, you know, we will continue to evaluate all of these things from game to game, just like we would in any playoff series. “

If Kuzma gets the nod, it would mean Anthony Davis would move up to 5 and McGee, who started all 68 games he has played for LA this season – plus the playoff opener – would come off the bench.

Portland beat the Lakers by five in 21 minutes in Game 1 with Davis at 5 and Kuzma at 4. LA’s offensive shot is slightly better than his entire outing – 41% (16 of 39) – but it was 0 – di-11 by 3.

However, during the regular season, the Davis-Kuzma duo had a net score of more – 3.8 points per 100 possessions in a much larger sample (406 minutes), according to data compiled by ESPN Stats & Information.

Davis, who only shot 8 of 24 in Game 1, particularly thrived on that pair, averaging 29.3 points and 10.8 rebounds for 36 minutes with 57% shooting.

McGee stressed that by remaining the starting center, Davis “gets to play the position he really wants to play which is 4.”

However, he acknowledged that the Lakers are successful with Davis occupying that position.

“I really feel like both ways change the defense mentality to the point where they need to look for both of them and they don’t know what to do, when we’re both there or if it’s just a big one, which is he at 5,” he said. . “I feel it’s good that we mix things up and make sure we keep the defense uncomfortable.”