On Saturday evening, the Los Angeles Lakers continued their winning ways with a comfortable home victory over the Golden State Warriors. The Lakers knew they'd be without Luka Doncic in this one due to a hamstring strain, but they got a troubling update when big man Deandre Ayton was scratched just before the game due to an injury of his own.
However, thankfully, it doesn't appear that Ayton's ailment is anything too severe.
“JJ Redick says Ayton will be day-to-day going forward. Does not sound too concerned about his knee pain being managed,” reported Dave McMenamin of ESPN on X, formerly Twitter.
Ayton has seen his play fall off a bit over the last few weeks, but has mostly played solid basketball in his first season in Los Angeles, giving Doncic a reliable role partner at the basket and also helping to clean up the glass on the other end of the floor.
The Lakers didn't make any drastic moves at the NBA trade deadline but did swing a trade for former Atlanta Hawks sharpshooter Luke Kennard, giving up Gabe Vincent and a future draft pick in the process.
Kennard played well in his Lakers debut on Saturday, scoring ten points off the bench, and knocking down a three-pointer just seconds after checking into the game. Three-point shooting has been Kennard's niche in the NBA throughout his career, and no one has been better in that department this year, as he was shooting nearly 50 percent from beyond the arc entering Saturday's game.
While Kennard won't do much to fix the Lakers' big question marks on the defensive end of the floor, he does provide Doncic and LeBron James with another floor spacer who can torch opponents who try to overload their defenses on Los Angeles' stars.
In any case, the Lakers will next take the court on Monday evening for a home game against the Oklahoma City Thunder.
