DENVER — The Los Angeles Lakers lost starting center Deandre Ayton to a left knee issue early and then LeBron James to a left elbow injury late, and the team is now one technical foul away from losing Luka Doncic to a one-game suspension.
Ayton played the first 4 minutes and 30 seconds of Thursday night’s game against the Denver Nuggets before leaving after fouling out with the Lakers already trailing 15-3.
The center, who missed two games with right knee soreness before the All-Star break, missed the remainder of the Lakers’ 120-113 loss due to left knee soreness, according to coach JJ Redick.
Ayton left without speaking to reporters, but Lakers guard Marcus Smart, whose locker is next to his, spoke for him.
“It’s down,” Smart said. “For him, it sucked not being out there in the game. He tried to go, and it just didn’t feel right for him, and it sucks. We definitely could have used him. I know he’s been getting a lot of backlash lately for his effort and his play. He understands that.
“I know it may not seem like it, but he does it, and he wants to do well and he wants to help this team, and I think that’s what’s most frustrating for him because he’s trying. But the way he’s trying isn’t working, and he’s still trying to figure it out. But he was definitely down tonight.”
James, meanwhile, hit his left elbow on the ground after scoring a layup with 4:05 left and absorbing contact from the Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic. No foul was called.
“It hurts pretty bad right now,” James said after the game. “It felt like one of those fun bone situations, but super more intense.”
James left the game after a timeout and attempted to play again before sitting for the final 22.3 seconds. He iced his elbow after the game and his longtime athletic trainer, Mike Mancias, put a compression sleeve on James’ left arm for the team’s return flight to Los Angeles on Thursday night.
James said he was unsure of his availability for the Lakers’ game Friday against the Indiana Pacers on the second night of a back-to-back.
“We’ll see what happens in the next few days,” James said. “I hope I wake up [Friday] and it doesn’t feel much worse than it does now. Or if you feel better, that would be great. So it’s day to day. We’ll see what happens.”
He seemed more disturbed by the sanction against Jokic than by the injury.
“It’s the same s—,” James said when asked if the referees gave him an explanation for why Jokic wasn’t called for a foul. “‘Marginal.’ It’s the same shit. …That’s the only thing they keep saying is “marginal.” I’m so fucking tired of that word. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
He was not the only Lakers player who had problems with the referees.
Doncic was charged with a technical foul by referee Dedric Taylor with 5:43 left in the second quarter.
Team manager Ed Malloy, speaking to a reporter from the group, explained the technical foul, which was called at the other end of the court after Doncic yelled at Taylor.
“Doncic received a technical foul for using profanity directed at a referee,” Malloy said. “We are trained not to stop an offensive transition by calling a technical foul on the defense.”
Doncic said he felt attacked by the referee’s decision.
“I heard three other players say the exact same phrase and I didn’t get a technical,” Doncic said. “And that’s my problem… I was trying not to talk at all. This was the first thing I said, no warning or anything. But I heard three other players say the exact same thing and nothing. So, you know… I don’t know what to say.”
It was Doncic’s 15th technical foul of the season. If he reaches 16, he will have to serve a one-game suspension.
Doncic has twice before reached 16 technical fouls in a season in his career, only to have the 16th overturned before having to serve the suspension.
He was asked if he would commit to not being called up to the 16th pick with the Lakers this season.
“We’ll see,” Doncic said. “I can’t predict the future.”