EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Los Angeles Lakers point guard Steve Nash will be listed as doubtful for Friday night's game against the Los Angeles Clippers after suffering a lower-leg bruise in the second quarter of the team's 116-106 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday night.
Nash was not able to practice Thursday and was walking with a noticeable limp, but he said he doesn't believe the injury is serious.
"Luckily, it's not anything major or structural. It's just a contusion in a bad area," he said. "Maybe I'm too optimistic to say doubtful, but it's definitely touch and go."
Steve Blake would start in Nash's place if he can't play.
Nash, 38, collided with Portland rookie Damian Lillard and left with 2:26 remaining in the second quarter on Wednesday. He tried to play again after halftime, but lasted just more than a minute on the court before Blake subbed in for him. Nash spent the rest of the game icing his leg and getting treatment in the locker room.
He tried to come back in for the second half, but had to leave within seconds.
"By the time I got off of the training table, there was almost no time on the clock to warm up at halftime. So I ran out there and got some shots up, but I didn't have any time to test it laterally," Nash said. "As soon as I did some lateral movement, it just gave out on me.
"I thought I was going to be able to finish the game but I didn't obviously get enough time to really warm up and it just wasn't ready last night."
Nash finished with two points, four assists and four rebounds in 16 minutes. He is averaging 4.5 points, 4.0 assists and 3.0 rebounds through the Lakers' first two games of the season, both losses.
Information from ESPNLosAngeles.com's Dave McMenamin was used in this report.
