Lakers’ Nick Young out at least two weeks because of knee fracture

PHILADELPHIA — Swaggy knee?

Nick Young was the Lakers’ latest player to get hurt, taking away their second-leading scorer and nickname-bestowing personality.

He will miss at least two weeks because of a non-displaced fracture in the patella of his left knee. Young, who averages 16.9 points, also sustained a bone bruise.

Young was injured when Cleveland guard C.J. Miles grabbed him from behind on a fastbreak layup, forcing him to plant unsteadily in the second quarter of the Lakers’ 119-108 victory Wednesday.

Young, who calls himself “Swaggy P,” wasn’t happy about the foul.

“They were down 30,” he said. “He could have let me have a layup.”

The Lakers quickly found a replacement for Young — forward Shawne Williams will sign a 10-day contract and rejoin the team for Friday’s game against Philadelphia.

Williams averaged 5.2 points and 4.5 rebounds in 32 games with the Lakers this season. He was cut last month before his contract became guaranteed.

The Lakers were almost down to four players against Cleveland but an obscure league rule allowed Robert Sacre to stay in the game after he picked up his sixth foul.

Steve Nash will play against Philadelphia after sitting out against Cleveland and Jordan Farmar is also expected back after leaving Wednesday’s game because of leg cramps. Jordan Hill is a game-time decision because of a strained neck.

“It’s tough to see everybody go down,” Farmar said. “It’s unbelievable but I guess that’s just the name of the game this year.”

Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Jodie Meeks and Xavier Henry will not play Friday.

Tank time?

It’s apparently not time for the Lakers to start tanking.

Their bizarre victory over Cleveland didn’t help them in the race for a higher draft pick.

The Lakers and Cavaliers each entered with 16-32 records, but the Lakers won despite dressing only eight players. It was almost strange to hear optimism trickling out of their locker room.

“We can make a push to where we have entertaining basketball,” said Lakers Coach Mike D’Antoni. “I know where we are, I know the hole we’re in, but we can finish out the year on a high note and that’s what we want to do.”

D’Antoni has to be upbeat no matter what happens but you can almost hear Lakers fans groaning. Their team was 111/2 games out of a playoff spot and tied with Sacramento for the NBA’s seventh-worst record.

That probably won’t get Joel Embiid or Jabari Parker if they leave college in a few months.

Good call?

The NBA determined that proper protocols were followed in the “Sacre’s Sixth” game.

But is it really sensible for a player to pick up a sixth foul and keep playing?

“It doesn’t make sense to me,” said Lakers center Chris Kaman. “Any time a superstar fouls out … you take a ‘tech’ and say everybody on the bench is hurt and we want to keep him in.

“It is a loophole. There’s a lot of loopholes.”

Sacre isn’t Kevin Durant but his exit would have left the Lakers playing four on five. They had already lost two players to injury and Kaman fouled out a few minutes before Sacre.

Sacre stayed on the court, a technical foul was assessed for the infraction and Cleveland made the free throw.

“It’s fair when you don’t have enough guys,” Sacre said. “What’s crazy is we only have six guys out of a 15- or a 14-man roster. That’s what’s crazy about it all.

“Now everyone knows the rules and now we can just adjust from that.”

Besides, Sacre has seen worse.

“I’ve seen guys foul out with 10 fouls in summer league,” he said, citing the liberal personal foul rules at NBA leagues for young players.

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Twitter: @Mike_Bresnahan