The last thing the Los Angeles Lakers needed for their Thursday night contest against the Denver Nuggets was for their thin frontcourt to become even more depleted. But that's exactly what happened, as Deandre Ayton had to exit the game early due to a knee injury and he will not be returning to action, as per Chris Haynes of NBA on Prime.
It's not quite clear when Ayton sustained the injury, but at the very least, this was deemed by the Lakers to be serious enough for him to not continue on the 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 only played in four minutes before having to exit; he recorded just two rebounds in that meager playing time he put up against the Nuggets.
Without Ayton, the Lakers will have to rely even more on Jaxson Hayes, and head coach JJ Redick could deploy a small unit to try and stretch Jokic out on offense.
That, of course, comes with it its fair share of detriments; Jokic is the toughest cover in the association on the interior, and the Lakers will have to scramble and send multiple defenders towards him to try and slow him down — potentially opening up the floor for the other Nuggets to do damage.
Lakers go small, aim to stretch Nuggets in aftermath of Deandre Ayton injury
Regardless of who covers him, Jokic is going to stuff the stat sheet. But the Lakers are at least making him work on the defensive end. Redick has indeed gone small with Ayton out, with Marcus Smart defending Jokic and trying to front him at the post.
Smart, on the other end, is getting a plethora of open looks from beyond the arc. The Lakers are getting whatever they want on offense, and it's up to them to shoot themselves to victory if this keeps up.
