The last thing the Los Angeles Lakers needed for Thursday night's contest against the Denver Nuggets was for their thin frontcourt to become even weaker. But that's exactly what happened, because according to Chris Haynes of NBA on Prime, Deandre Ayton was forced out of the game early with a knee injury and will not return to action.
It's unclear exactly when Ayton suffered the injury, but at least the Lakers considered it serious enough to keep him from continuing with the injury that night. The true extent of the severity of Ayton's injury should be revealed after the game when the Bahamian big man undergoes more testing.
Ayton played only four minutes before exiting; He recorded only two rebounds in that short amount of time he played against the Nuggets.
Without Ayton, the Lakers will have to rely even more on Jackson Hayes, and head coach JJ Redick may deploy a smaller unit to try to get Jokic on offense.
Of course, this also comes with its fair share of disadvantages; Jokic is the toughest cover in the association on the interior, and the Lakers will have to scramble to try to slow him down and send multiple defenders towards him – potentially opening up the floor for other Nuggets to do damage.
Lakers take small steps as Nuggets aim to stretch after DeAndre Ayton injury
No matter who covers him, Jokic is going to fill up the stat sheet. But the Lakers are at least getting him work on the defensive end. With Ayton out, Redick is really short, Marcus Smart is defending Jokic and trying to get in front of him in the post.
Smart, on the other hand, is getting a lot of open looks from beyond the arc. The Lakers are getting what they need on offense, and if that continues it's up to them to shoot themselves to victory.
