Lakers' Pau Gasol Expected to Return Tonight

After being sidelined for more than a week with a concussion, Pau Gasol will return to the lineup tonight as the Los Angeles Lakers take on the Miami Heat.  The return couldn't have come at a better time as the Lakers will need all the help they can get.  Gasol's concussion marks the third time the forward has missed significant time this season. Gasol expects doctors to clear him to play tonight when he sees them this morning says Arash Markazi of ESPN Los Angeles.  With a concussion, the decision to return is not in Gasol's hands or even in coach Mike D'Antoni's hands.  It is fully in the hands of the doctors."I feel better and tomorrow I'll be a go," Gasol said yesterday. "I guess I have to ease my way back into it because this is the first day I've actually got some good work done on the court. After a week and a half of inactivity, your body needs a certain amount of time to get back out there and perform at your best."Gasol has missed five games for the Lakers, and in that time the team has struggled, going 2-3.  Los Angeles is running out of time to make a run, and injuries like Gasol's continue to derail them.  The Lakers have been hit hard by injuries, but even when their players are healthy, they have failed ot live up to expectations. Follow @hoopsinjurynews!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="http://www.nbainjurynews.com//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-34100676-1']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();