Andray Blatche sits out practice with left knee swelling, expects to play against the Lakers

Andray Blatche (left knee swelling) and John Wall (sore left foot) both sat out of practice to nurse their respective injuries. Blatche said he started developing soreness in his knee the day after scoring 14 points in a team-high 40 minutes in the Wizards' 101-95 loss to New York on Friday, in his return after missing the previous two games with a left hip contusion. The condition worsened the next day, Blatche said, and he shut himself down after attempting to run in practice.

"My knee was fine against the Knicks; it was just my hip. I was dragging a little bit, but I tried to compete as hard as I could," he said. "After the Knicks game, I went home, it felt a little strange, but it wasn't swollen. Last night, when I went to bed, it was real stiff, I looked up and it was swollen. Today, I couldn't even bend it. I couldn't even practice."

Blatche said he doesn't expect the injury to force him to sit out against the Lakers on Tuesday. He missed the Wizards' 115-108 loss to the Lakers last week after suffering a bruised hip in the loss to Phoenix. "The pain moved from my hip, now it's in my knee," said Blatche, who pulled down the protective sleeve over his knee to show how much swelling had developed. "I'm going to go home, ice, try to get this thing down. Try to get ready. We've got a couple of days [to prepare] anyway. Only thing that can keep from going is if I can't bend this leg."

Blatche has been dealing with some soreness in his left knee all season and was forced to miss a few practices. "It comes and goes. When it's gone I'm fine, when it comes back, it comes back stronger and worse," he said.