Ariza cleared for some practice

DENVER -- It took a while, more than three months, but Trevor Ariza finally heard the magic medical words.

The Lakers’ forward was cleared to begin some basketball-related activities and will be available to play at some point in the second round of the playoffs.

“A week from now, I can start doing a little bit of contact. And then a week later I can start playing,” he said. “It’s definitely good news.”

A key defender at small forward, Ariza has been out since Jan. 20 because of a broken bone in his right foot. He is not allowed to dunk yet and can work only on individual skills such as shooting and dribbling over the next week.

An MRI exam Friday showed that the bone in his foot had healed to the point of being able to begin basketball exercises.

Ariza was a fixture on the Lakers’ second unit after being acquired from Orlando in November for Brian Cook and Maurice Evans. He was averaging 6.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 18 minutes in 24 games with the Lakers, who like his length and speed as a defender.

Ariza was on the Lakers’ bench, in a suit, for Game 3 on Saturday against Denver.

The medical charts haven’t been favorable for the Lakers throughout the season.

Andrew Bynum has not played since Jan. 13 and has been given only a remote chance of returning from a knee injury during the playoffs. He has missed 49 games.

Vladimir Radmanovic missed 17 games during the regular season, Pau Gasol missed 10 and Chris Mihm missed 43 games because of injuries.

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Ronny Turiaf played four minutes in the fourth quarter of Game 3 after missing Game 2 because of tonsillitis. Turiaf, who lost 11 pounds last week, missed two shots, had three rebounds, and returned to his unofficial side job as team cheerleader.

“He can almost talk in a regular voice now. It’s starting to come back,” Lakers Coach Phil Jackson said.

Coby Karl was moved to the inactive list for Game 3 to make room for Turiaf.

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There aren’t many faults to be found on the Lakers these days, but Radmanovic continued a quiet series in which he has averaged seven points in three games.

The Lakers tried to give him some extra shooting at practice between Games 2 and 3, but he had only five points on two-for-nine shooting Saturday.

“We really worked with him trying to build his confidence back up, about how important he is to that unit to be able to extend the court, hit three-pointers, make teams pay when they get in a zone, those type of things,” Jackson said. “He’ll get it back.

“He’s one of those kind of guys that misses a game or so and you wonder where he’s gone and then he comes back and helps us out a lot.”

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