Robin Lopez Returning to Action

The Suns’ thin front-line will soon get some much-needed support, in the form of Robin Lopez whose knee feels good enough to play. From the Arizona Republic: “His timing is impeccable in one regard. With the Suns badly needing his help, Lopez appears he will be available to play, and possibly start, the next game Wednesday at home against Minnesota. Lopez partially tore ligaments in his left knee when teammate Jared Dudley fell into him during a Nov. 14 game but the down time also has served Lopez well for residual right leg weakness. He suffered a pinched nerve in his right leg from the bulging disk diagnosed in March. ‘It feels OK,’ Lopez said. ‘There is no real problem with the knee really. It was good to get back with the guys. I really don’t feel like I’ve missed a step. The nerve damage down the right leg was kind of a lingering problem and, dating back to the back injury, takes a little while to heal. Obviously, there’s more distance between the injury now and it’s feeling better.’ ven when Lopez played the first nine games, his performance lacked the same explosiveness of last season. He averaged 5.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 17.8 minutes in nine starts. The Suns wants to analyze how he handles Monday’s and Tuesday’s practices consecutively but liked the spring he had Sunday.”