Sorely Needed Rest for Two Starters

The Lakers were down two starters again Thursday. Nick Van Exel, who might not have played against the Denver Nuggets anyway because of his knee problems, stayed home because of a bad stomach and Robert Horry stayed on the bench because of the ongoing problem with a vein near his groin.

Horry dressed, but Coach Del Harris made the decision not to use his power forward. Elden Campbell, in a switch away from Corie Blount, got the start.

“Just kind of give him an extra day and hopefully have him ready for the road trip,” Harris said of Horry.

The dilated vein can cause considerable pain or other times function without problems. Wednesday, Horry started at Phoenix but removed himself 1:54 into the game. He eventually returned but played only nine minutes in all, spending the entire second half on the sideline.

“I felt like me not being 100%, I’d just be hurting the team,” Horry said. “I wasn’t running as hard as I could because in the back of my mind I was thinking about it. So I just got out of the way.”

Meanwhile, there was no telling whether Van Exel would have played against the Nuggets if not for the stomach problems, such has been the delicate nature of his knees, most recently the right one and its persistent clicking. Either way, Van Exel missed his fourth game in the last nine.