Kobe Bryant will play tonight with ankle injury

Adi Joseph, USA TODAY Sports | USATODAY

Kobe Bryant will play tonight.

Los Angeles Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni expects his star in Friday's 7 p.m. ET game against the Indiana Pacers despite an ankle injury initially ruled as a severe sprain from Wednesday's game against the Atlanta Hawks.

"I'm sure you're all surprised: Mike D'Antoni anticipates that @kobebryant (severely sprained ankle) WILL start tonight at Indy," Lakers.com's Mike Trudell tweeted Friday evening. "Initially, D'Antoni said 'we'll see' & 'game-time decision.' When pressed, said he expects Kobe will play, & that he won't just be a decoy."

Los Angeles Daily News beat reporter Mark Medina confirmed Bryant is listed in the Lakers' starting lineup.

D'Antoni said earlier Friday that Bryant would be a game-time decision.

"He's getting treatment," D'Antoni said after their shoot-around at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. "It'll get better everyday and then we'll see. When he can go, he'll go. ... He's pretty remarkable on how he recovers."

Bryant is known for playing through pain, but after he tweeted a photo of himself Thursday nursing a swollen ankle, it seemed unlikely his return would be so immediate. Because he's back in the starting lineup, he won't have missed anything but the final few seconds of Wednesday's game against the Hawks, after he was injured by falling on to Dahntay Jones' foot.

The NBA ruled Thursday that Jones should have been whistled for a foul.

Bryant has been active all week on Twitter but kept silent Friday as news surfaced he might play and Time Warner Cable posted a video of him warming up.