Walker Injures Elbow

PORTLAND, Ore. —  Samaki Walker had a smile on his face as he headed out of the Laker locker room at the Rose Garden on Sunday clutching a large envelope.

In it were X-rays showing that the injury that had forced the Laker center out of Sunday’s 111-105 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers in the fourth quarter was nothing more serious than a hyperextended elbow.

Walker, who has never had that injury even though it is common to the sport, will get an MRI exam today as a precautionary measure.

Walker was hurt when he locked arms with Portland’s Shawn Kemp.

“He got me with the [veteran] move,” Walker said. “It’s sore as hell now, but they tell me I’ll feel a whole lot better tomorrow.”

Walker had a tough game. He was 0 for 2 from the field in 22 minutes with two points and three rebounds.

No matter how Walker feels today, he knows his playing time will be drastically reduced with the expected return of center Shaquille O’Neal for Tuesday night’s game at Staples Center against the Boston Celtics.

O’Neal has missed the last five games because of his chronic toe injury.

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Talk about adding insult to injury.

Asked about Kemp, who had 10 points in 18 minutes when he wasn’t busy locking arms with Walker, Laker Coach Phil Jackson said, “He needs to lose about 10 more pounds.”

Kemp’s own coach, Maurice Cheeks, naturally heaped praise on Kemp, who scored several key baskets down the stretch.

“I was really pleased for Shawn Kemp,” Cheeks said. “He became our go-to guy in the fourth quarter when they had [Mark] Madsen guarding him. We didn’t think Madsen could guard him and Madsen did get in foul trouble.”

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Along with Robert Horry (22 points), Rick Fox and Lindsey Hunter (18 each) also had season-high scoring totals. Horry’s previous best had been 14, Fox 17 and Hunter 16.

Steve Springer