LA Lakers point guard Lonzo Ball sprained his left ankle Tuesday night against Denver Nuggets, but he insists he will be ready to play against Indiana on Thursday.
He injured himself early in the third quarter and coach Luke Walton said he sprained his “left ankle pretty good” after stepping over Monte Morris in the first half.
“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.”
Ball initially tried to play on, but after he missed a 3-pointer, grabbed a rebound and assisted Brandon Ingram on a dunk, Walton said he felt it was better to hold Ball out.
“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.”
Teammate LeBron James was frustrated to see Ball depart, particularly since they are playing without Rajon Rondo, the team’s other point guard, who is sidelined with a broken hand.
“Just the way that we play, with the pace that we play, it’s just tough to lose any one of our point guards, let alone not having both of them,” Lakers star LeBron James said. “Zo turned his ankle on just a weird play. I think it was [Denver’s Monte Morris] who was on the ground. [Ball] didn’t see him, stepped on his foot, rolled his ankle pretty good. Zo was playing some good ball up until that moment. It just hurt our team.”
Ball finished with seven points, five rebounds and two assists in 18 minutes.
