Lakers News: Further Intel On Illness That Almost Sidelined Kevon Looney In Game 2

The Warriors center played on a minutes restriction Thursday.

Golden State Warriors center Kevon Looney was nearly a late scratch heading into last night's 127-100 blowout Warriors home victory over your Los Angeles Lakers.

Now, his head coach is shedding some light into what happened.

Looney was struck by an undisclosed illness prior to tipoff, and Steve Kerr relayed that the Warriors' normal starting center was to be limited to playing just 20 minutes, according to Sean Cunningham of Fox 40 KTXL. Kerr noted that Looney's timing restrictions influenced his decision to bench the big man in favor of reserve JaMychal Green.

In 11:44 of action Thursday, Looney scored six points on 3-of-6 shooting and pulled down eight rebounds, far cries from his Game 1 sums of 10 points and 23 boards. Green, meanwhile, getting just his second start all season, scored 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting (3-of-6 from deep) in just 12:32.

The 6'9" Looney had been enjoying a stellar playoff run for the 44-38 Dubs prior to yesterday. Through his eight healthy playoff games heading into Thursday, he had been averaging 7.3 points on 54.3% shooting, 16.1 rebounds, and 4.4 assists.

What kind of an impact the ailment has on Looney going forward remains to be seen, although with a fully engaged Draymond Green playing at the level he did in Game 2, Golden State's front line might survive just fine, even with Looney limited.

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