The Los Angeles Lakers were giving the Denver Nuggets everything they could handle on Thursday night, even if their starting center Deandre Ayton had to leave after just four minutes with a knee injury. This made the Nikola Jokic matchup more difficult.
The Lakers almost had to deal with being shorthanded even more, because at one point in the fourth quarter, it looked like LeBron James was going to chase Ayton into the locker room with an early exit of his own.
With about four minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, James made a hard layup in Jokic's grill. However, the Lakers star didn't go down easily; Actually, while doing this he fell on the ground and got injured in his left elbow.
California Post price via Khobi:
LeBron James was holding his left elbow after the fall. He is currently on the bench being tended to by his longtime coach. pic.twitter.com/Oy676TN19U
- Khobi Price (@khobi_price) 6 March 2026
James slammed his elbow into the camera, and was slow to get back to his feet. The Lakers then committed a foul to stop the game and then called a timeout to remove James from the field.
But with 2:05 remaining in the period, James returned to play, checking in for Rui Hachimura, with the Lakers trailing the Nuggets by just one, 112–111. In the end, the Lakers didn't have enough to overcome the Nuggets. The good news is that James escaped serious harm.
Lakers can't hit shots in tough times vs. Nuggets
The Lakers gambled that they would play short and make enough shots to counter the Nuggets led by Jokic. And it worked to some extent, as LA came back and made it a close game vs. the Nuggets. However, with the Lakers trailing by only three (114-111), they could not hit open shots - Marcus Smart hit two triples on back-to-back possessions.
It was Jokic who scored the dagger in the end, as he made a routine floater to give Denver a five-point lead that proved to be enough for a 120–113 victory.
