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But Artest isn't feeling good, either. And it's not just his head – although he asked out of the game in the first and third quarters Sunday night, according to Jackson, because of after-effects from his Christmas night concussion. Artest hit the floor after being entangled with Michael Redd and later got clocked by a Kurt Thomas pick.

Unbeknownst to the public, Artest is currently playing with plantar fasciitis in his right foot, the same foot on which he suffered a bad ankle sprain last season with Houston. He also has a sore left foot from being stepped on recently. He's basically out there with no base, which makes it pretty hard to be athletic.

Artest is no Shannon Brown around the rim, but the plantar fascia has him elevating even less than Derek Fisher – especially come the fourth quarter, by which time the soreness from pounding the foot on the hardwood has set in. Artest was all alone at the basket late in the game in Portland on Friday night and couldn't even rise up to dunk. Jackson described Artest before the game Sunday night as having "a few things going on." Jackson also referred to Artest as "not quite ready to step into" the void left by Gasol's latest hamstring injury.