Lakers’ Adou Thiero feeling ‘back to normal’ after knee injury

LOS ANGELES — If there were any doubts about Adou Thiero’s physical readiness after being sidelined for six weeks, he quickly erased them. 

And he did so by displaying his tantalizing athleticism with a two-way sequence that few players on the Lakers could pull off the way he did late in Tuesday’s loss to the San Antonio Spurs. 

After Spurs’ Bismack Biyombo grabbed an offensive rebound, the 15-year NBA veteran tried to put the ball back up toward the rim for an easy two points. 

The problem for Biyombo? Thiero was not only directly in front of him inside the paint, but several inches higher than him off the ground, with Thiero using his 6-foot wingspan to swat Biyombo’s shot back to where it came from. 

And Thiero was just getting started. 

As Bronny James recovered to loose the ball that stemmed from Thiero’s blocked shot, he ran up the floor before pointing toward the rim. 

James knew exactly what Thiero was looking for.

“I feel like we have the connection now to where I put my finger in the air,” Thiero said, “and he already knows to throw the ball up.”

James delivered with an underhanded alley-oop to Thiero, with the 6-foot-8 forward slamming the ball through the net with two hands as he was getting fouled by Jordan McLaughlin for the and-1. 

“Feels good, I’ll say,” Thiero said. “It always feels good to leave a game without a donut, so that was good.”

Earlier in the week, Thiero practiced with the Lakers’ South Bay G League affiliate and had also played in “stay-ready” games, pulling off the type of athletic feats that he showed on Tuesday night. 

“Had that tested out a couple of times already,” Thiero said. “[Tuesday] wasn’t no different from what’s been going on in those [five-on-five] games.”

Outside of getting an ovation from the fans inside Crypto.com Arena, Thiero’s sequence didn’t have a tangible impact on the result against the Spurs.

The Lakers were still down by 25 with eight minutes left in the game after Thiero’s free throw. 

But with Tuesday being Thiero’s first game since Dec. 30, being sidelined for six weeks after being diagnosed with a sprained MCL in his right knee, there was encouragement that he didn’t hesitate or have second-thoughts when it came to explosive moves that he’s known for. 

Thiero was also sidelined during training camp, preseason and the first 13 games of the regular season while dealing with left knee swelling. He had surgery after suffering a left knee injury while at Arkansas last spring.

“If I still thought about it, I don’t think I’d be out there playing right now,” Thiero said. “I have 100% trust. I believe in my capabilities. And I know with every cut and jump that [my body will] respond, so very confident.”

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Star guard Luka Dončić was sidelined for Thursday night’s game against the Dallas Mavericks.

Thursday was his fourth consecutive missed game because of the strained left hamstring injury he suffered during the second quarter of Feb. 5 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.

Dončić’s status for Sunday’s All-Star game at Intuit Dome hadn’t been determined as of Thursday. 

The 26-year-old Dončić received All-Star honors for the sixth time in his eight-year career, being the leading vote-getting for the first time in his career.

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