Earl

Lakers forward Earl Clark will have an MRI on his sore right foot Tuesday. The team will issue an update on his condition later in the day. The Lakers (24-28) return to Staples Center on Tuesday to host the Phoenix Suns (17-35) after completing a seven-game road trip. Clark has emerged as a starter this season for the Lakers, averaging 11.6 points a game and 8.8 rebounds in 16 starts while shooting 47.9% from the field and 41.2% from three-point range. Coach Mike D'Antoni chose to start the young, more athletic Clark over the more-polished Pau Gasol - citing a better fit with starting center Dwight Howard.

MIAMI - The same guy who recently went around the locker room toting a stat sheet no longer wants to talk about it. It's time to say it for him: Dwight Howard needs to be a bigger part of the Lakers' offense. Learn how to use the pick and roll with the point guard most adept at running it in NBA history. Demand the ball long before your teammates commit a flurry of fourth-quarter turnovers forcing passes into the post. Step up and shoot, shoot, shoot with Pau Gasol possibly sidelined for the rest of the regular season.

NEW YORK - Pau Gasol's comments certainly won't comfort any Lakers followers. "Right now I'm waiting for crutches so I can walk out of here," he said nervously in the visitors' locker room after straining the plantar fasciitis in his right foot. It's an injury as ugly as it sounds, plantar fasciitis known more commonly as painful swelling on the soft tissue under the arch of the foot. But Gasol did something worse than that Tuesday against the Brooklyn Nets, hearing a pop in his foot while jumping to block Brook Lopez's shot.

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - Q: How do you make the Lakers panic? A: Give them a double-digit lead. Their prowess, or lack thereof, was on display again when an 18-point lead melted to nothing, something as randomly small as a muffed last-second alley-oop handing the Lakers a 98-97 victory Sunday over the Detroit Pistons. It was a game to remember for the Lakers, owners of a rare two-game win streak on the road, and also a game to forget as Steve Nash missed two free throws with 2.7 seconds left.

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - That free agent in the Lakers' frontcourt stands to make a lot of money this summer. Sure, Dwight Howard will get paid too, but Earl Clark has gone from a career washout to a gradual climber up the NBA's free-agent list in July. "Obviously, not playing earlier and averaging those [low] numbers, I didn't know where I would end up," Clark said. "Playing good now and with other teams wanting you, you can pick your own destiny. It feels good to be in the driver's seat.

As Coach Mike D'Antoni and Pau Gasol snipe back and forth about starting, finishing and role, Earl Clark has emerged as a productive starter for the Lakers. In 10 starts for the Lakers, Clark is averaging 10.1 points and 8.6 rebounds while shooting 57.8% from three-point range. It's his outside shooting that has impressed the most. On the season, he's hit 12 of 22 (54.5%) from behind the arc. That's quite a jump given that Clark didn't hit a single three-pointer in either of the last two seasons.

The Lakers had a one-point lead with two minutes left in a game against New Orleans on Tuesday. With the outcome on the line, Kobe Bryant, one of the game's best closers, passed the ball to Earl Clark, a player many fans hadn't heard of until recently. Clark made a layup, helping the Lakers secure a 111-106 win. "It's great for a great player like that to have trust in me because, you know, he could have easily shot it," Clark said of Bryant. "He's so great, he can make shots over the double team any day. It just feels good.

Lakers 111 - Hornets 106 (Final) The Lakers won their third-straight game on Tuesday night, defeating the New Orleans Hornets at Staples Center, 111-106. After building a sizable double-digit lead, the Lakers eased off a little too early. The Hornets are a young, energetic, well-coached team. They kept at the Lakers, getting hot from outside - closing to within a single point, 102-101, with 2:05 left in the game. The Lakers responded with a 9-5 run, highlighted by a Steve Nash three-pointer that pushed the Lakers' lead up to six with 1:21 left.

The Lakers' longest trip of the season starts with a homecoming for Steve Nash. Parades and speeches aren't on the agenda Wednesday night in Phoenix, though a few cheers might be. "It couldn't be anything but great," Lakers Coach Mike D'Antoni said of the reception he expected Nash to receive inside US Airways Center when the veteran point guard returns to the place where he spent eight memorable seasons with the Suns, including four under D'Antoni....

Brenda and Larry Clark didn't see as much of their son Earl as they might have liked while visiting the Lakers forward over New Year's. After polishing off some of his favorite dishes, including his mom's stuffing and potato salad, Earl would return to his team's practice facility late in the evening for a few hours of extra shooting. "Sometimes, man, you'd get there and the security guard would be sleeping," Earl said, "and sometimes they don't open the gate. " It was nothing new for Clark.