Pau Gasol injury: Lakers’ forward tears plantar fascia, out at least 6 weeks

The Lakers have moved 1.5 games ahead of the Utah Jazz for the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference, and with Utah taking on the Spurs in San Antonio on Friday they are in line to create even more space in the playoff race. The Lakers have won seven of their last 10 games overall. At Lakers blog Silver Screen and Roll, there is a bit of concern about how D’Antoni has condensed his rotations, so the return of Gasol and Bryant could help ease the stress put on the active roster.

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Gasol was expected to miss six-to-eight weeks with the injury. The forward experimented with Twitcam on Thursday and said that he had “minimal discomfort” in his foot after running. He added that he put about 75 percent of his body weight on his right foot, and that the workout was “encouraging.”

Gasol’s return would be of help to Los Angeles’ depth-less frontcourt that is seeing more inspired play from Dwight Howard of late.