Lonzo Ball turns ankle as Nuggets rout Lakers, 117-85

The Los Angeles Lakers might be without both their point guards for a game or two after a blowout loss to the Denver Nuggets. On a broken play, Lonzo Ball tripped over a Nugget on the ground, turning his ankle fairly badly. He tried to give it a go in the third period, but was limping noticeably for the short stint he was on the court before Josh Hart (who is also nursing a tweaked ankle) took his place.

Oh yeah, and Denver routed the Lakers 117-85.

Ball has a day to recover before the Lakers play their next game, but given the way he was favoring that left ankle, and how conservatively the training staff have managed him through injuries both last season and to start this year, it’s easy to see him missing at least a game or two with this.

Here’s hoping that doesn’t happen, though, as Rajon Rondo is still weeks away from returning.

Overall, this was a pretty poor performance against a Denver team that really seems to circle their games against LeBron and the Lakers. It’s one thing to shoot poorly; that happens all the time. But it’s quite another to get outworked the way the Lakers did on the boards. Denver out-rebounded the Lakers, 60-38. Though to be fair, Denver’s rebound total was aided greatly by just how poorly the Lakers shot.

In regards to the Lakers’ shooting woes, it seems like a bit of a disservice to merely write this off as “just one of those nights.” As things currently stand, LeBron is the starting five’s best three-point shooter, meaning that group is operating in a telephone booth. And the lineups didn’t get any prettier from there, as at one point, Brandon Ingram, Lance Stephenson, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Michael Beasley and JaVale McGee shared the court together.

That just can’t happen with a non-tanking team. My eyes might never recover.

Unfortunately, the lineups might have to remain extra weird if Ball misses any time. We’ll provide updates as they come. The Lakers play again Thursday night at home against the Indiana Pacers.