Los Angeles Lakers: Lonzo Ball suffers ankle injury vs Denver Nuggets

Los Angeles Lakers point guard Lonzo Ball suffered an ankle injury against the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night.

The Los Angeles Lakers suffered a blowout loss to the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday night. Los Angeles was run out of the Pepsi Center, losing 117-85. It was the largest margin of victory for the Nuggets over the Lakers in franchise history, surpassing the 29-point victory back in 1993.

However, the game wasn’t the worst loss that the Lakers suffered. That designation would fall onto starting point guard Lonzo Ball.

Ball suffered an ankle injury in the second quarter when he got tangled up with Nuggets’ guard Malik Beasley. Ball was seen pounding the floor before getting up and heading to the locker room.

The injury occurred with 1:44 remaining before halftime. He would come out after halftime and actually start for the Lakers but lasted less than three minutes before being pulled in favor of Josh Hart.

Head coach Luke Walton spoke about the injury following the game.

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"“He sprained his left ankle pretty good,” Walton said. “But he wanted to give it a go. But the way he was moving out there, it just didn’t feel right to leave him out on the court, so we got him out quickly.”"

Walton felt it was better to hold Ball out, which makes sense. The game wasn’t close and Walton believed he looked physically hampered, so getting him out of the game was the smart decision. However, Ball wanted to get back into the game.

"“I mean, I wanted to play,” Ball said. “Coaching staff thought it was better for me to take a rest, so that’s what I did. … Gave it a go, and I guess I wasn’t moving good enough for them, so they just pulled me.”"

While he was unable to finish tonight’s game, Ball did not sound worried about his status going forward. When he was asked about his status for Thursday night’s game against the Indiana Pacers, Ball said he would be out there.

That is great news for a Lakers squad that is already without their backup point guard, Rajon Rondo. Rondo broke his hand two weeks ago against the Portland Trail Blazers. He has already begun rehabbing his way back.

However, he will probably be sidelined at least another week or two, as he was given a 4-5 week timetable to return. Los Angeles cannot afford an injury to Ball that would keep him out an extended period of time.

Hopefully, the injury isn’t severe as Ball is portraying it to be. We will find out for sure Thursday night when the Lakers return back home to the Staples Center to host the Pacers.