The Los Angeles Lakers suffered a difficult loss to the Denver Nuggets, 120-113, on Thursday after giving up the first 11 points of the game. Now, they will have to quickly turn around and return home to host the Indiana Pacers on Friday evening.
While the Pacers are in last place in the Eastern Conference with a 15-47 record, the Lakers don’t have the luxury of taking any team lightly these days. That is especially true given their updated injury report for Friday’s matchup.
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LeBron James, who took a nasty fall on Thursday after making a layup and hurt his elbow, will be out of action. So will starting center Deandre Ayton, who left Thursday’s game early and was ruled out due to knee soreness, and backup big man Maxi Kleber.
After Friday, the Lakers will host the New York Knicks on Sunday afternoon before facing off against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Tuesday. Obviously, the hope is that they will be back at full strength for both of those games.
They currently hold a 37-25 record and are in sixth place in the Western Conference.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers give status updates on LeBron, Deandre Ayton for Friday’s game