Los Angeles Lakers lose Brandon Ingram to ankle injury

Los Angeles Lakers small forward Brandon Ingram suffered an ankle injury that forced him out of the game against the San Antonio Spurs.

The Los Angeles Lakers and San Antonio Spurs were playing in yet another competitive game on Wednesday night. The first two meetings were both close games, as the Spurs won in overtime in the first meeting and by four in the second matchup.

The third meeting looked like it would be heading down the same path. However, the Lakers will have to try getting over the hump this time without small forward, Brandon Ingram.

Ingram injured his ankle shooting a jumper just about halfway through the first quarter. Ingram rose up and knocked down a midrange jumper over a contesting LaMarcus Aldridge. Aldridge got too close to Ingram, however, and Ingram twisted his ankle.

Ingram stayed in the game to shoot his free throw. It was an and-one for Ingram, but the Lakers also got the ball back as Aldridge was called for a flagrant-1 foul. Ingram was then replaced by Hart in the lineup.

According to Mike Trudell of Spectrum SportsNet, Ingram was diagnosed with a sprained left ankle and was officially listed as questionable. One positive was that x-rays were negative on the ankle.

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This is not a surprising outcome, as Ingram gingerly walked off the court in the first half. He is likely sidelined for the remainder of the game as the team will proceed with caution.

Prior to the injury, Ingram was playing well. He made both of his shot attempts, scoring five points. However, his highlight of the game came on the defensive end.

With the starting lineup that Luke Walton deploys, Ingram is the starting shooting guard. That puts him in some difficult matchups defensively, but he came ready to play against DeMar DeRozan, who destroyed the Lakers in the first two games.

Ingram did not fall for DeRozan’s patented pump fake. Instead, Ingram ended up blocking his attempted shot, which caused a shot clock violation.

Hopefully, this ankle injury isn’t a serious one for Ingram. The Lakers are playing some good basketball right now, and Ingram was starting to find a rhythm on both ends of the court.

If he is forced to sit out some games, expect Josh Hart to see his minutes increased. Lance Stephenson, Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk and Michael Beasley should also receive minutes as they try and replace the scoring that will be lost from Ingram.