In order to give Xavier Henry more time to heal a bone bruise and torn cartilage in his right knee, the Lakers pushed back their reevaluation date from Thursday to either next Monday or Tuesday.

That automatically pencils Henry out when the Lakers play Friday against the Clippers at a designated home game at Staples Center.

Henry is traveling with the Lakers on their two-game trip to Dallas (Tuesday) and Houston (Wednesday). Before missing the past three games, Henry had morphed from a training-camp invitee to a dependable swingman who soon started a few games at point guard. He has averaged 10.1 points in 21.8 minutes namely by driving aggressively to the basket.

Henry has to stay on the roster past Jan. 10 for his contract worth $916,099 to become guaranteed. The Lakers are expected to keep him past that deadline.

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Follow L.A. Daily News Lakers beat writer Mark Medina on Twitter. E-mail him at mark.medina@langnews.com