The Los Angeles Lakers were giving the Denver Nuggets everything they can handle on Thursday night even though their starting center, Deandre Ayton, had to exit after just four minutes due to a knee injury. This made approaching the Nikola Jokic matchup that much more difficult.
The Lakers also nearly had to deal with being even more shorthanded, as at one point in the fourth quarter, it looked as though LeBron James was going to follow Ayton to the locker room with an early exit of his own.
With around four minutes left in the fourth quarter, James made a tough layup right in Jokic's grill. However, the Lakers star did not land smoothly; in fact, he crashed to the ground and hurt his left elbow in so doing.
Via Khobi Price of the California Post:
LeBron James was holding his left elbow area after his fall. He's on the bench being tended to by his longtime trainer right now. pic.twitter.com/Oy676TN19U
— Khobi Price (@khobi_price) March 6, 2026
James slammed his elbow towards a camera, and he was slow to get back on his feet. The Lakers then fouled to stop the play, and then they called timeout to get James out of the floor.
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 did not have enough to outslug the Nuggets. The good news is that James dodged serious harm.
Lakers can't hit shots in crunch time vs. Nuggets
The Lakers made the gambit that they'd make enough shots as they went small to try and combat the Jokic-led Nuggets. And this worked for a bit, as LA clawed back and made it a close game vs. the Nuggets. However, with the Lakers down by just three (114-111), they could not hit open shots — with Marcus Smart bricking 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 of a cushion for the 120-113 win.
