Ayton of the Lakers leaves due to knee injury; LeBron reports elbow discomfort.

DENVER — The Los Angeles Lakers experienced the loss of starting center Deandre Ayton due to a left knee issue early in the game, followed by LeBron James, who suffered a left elbow injury late in the match. The team is now one technical foul away from facing a one-game suspension for Luka Doncic.

Ayton participated for the first four minutes and 30 seconds of Thursday’s contest against the Denver Nuggets before exiting after committing a foul while the Lakers were already trailing 15-3.

Having missed two games due to right knee soreness prior to the All-Star break, Ayton did not return for the remainder of the Lakers’ 120-113 defeat due to left knee discomfort, as reported by JJ Redick.

Ayton departed without addressing the media, but Lakers guard Marcus Smart, whose locker is adjacent to Ayton’s, provided insight on his behalf.

“He’s down,” Smart stated. “It was tough for him not to be on the court. He attempted to play, but it just didn’t feel right for him, and that’s unfortunate. We certainly could have benefited from his presence. I know he has faced criticism lately regarding his effort and performance. He is aware of it.

“It may not appear so, but he understands and wants to excel, and he aims to assist this team. I think that adds to his frustration because he is making an effort. However, the way he is trying is not yielding results, and he is still working to resolve it. He was definitely down tonight.”

James, on the other hand, hit his left elbow on the floor after completing a layup with 4:05 left in the game while taking contact from the Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic. The referees did not call a foul.

“It’s quite sore at the moment,” James remarked after the game. “It felt like one of those funny bone situations, but much more intense.”

James exited the game following a timeout but attempted to return before ultimately sitting out the final 22.3 seconds. He applied ice to his elbow post-game, and his longtime athletic trainer, Mike Mancias, fitted James with a compression sleeve on his left arm for the team’s flight back to L.A. that night.

James expressed uncertainty regarding his availability for L.A.’s game on Friday against the Indiana Pacers during the second night of a back-to-back.

“We’ll see what transpires over the next couple of days,” James said. “Hopefully, I’ll wake up [Friday] and it won’t feel significantly worse than it does now. Or, if it feels better, that would be ideal. So, it’s day-to-day; we’ll see what happens.”

He appeared more frustrated with the no-call against Jokic than with the injury itself.

“It’s the same s—,” James responded when asked if he received an explanation from the officials regarding why Jokic was not penalized for a foul. “‘Marginal.’ It’s the same s—. … That’s all they keep saying is ‘marginal.’ I’m so f—ing tired of that word. It doesn’t make any sense.”

James was not the only Lakers player to express dissatisfaction with the officiating.

Doncic received a technical foul from referee Dedric Taylor with 5:43 left in the second quarter.

Crew chief Ed Malloy, speaking to a pool reporter, clarified the reason for the technical foul, which was called on the opposite end of the court after Doncic had directed comments at Taylor.

“Doncic was assessed a technical foul for using profanity directed at a referee,” Malloy explained. “We are trained not to halt an offensive transition when issuing a technical foul on the defense.”

Doncic indicated that he felt singled out by the referee’s decision.

“I heard three other players say the exact same thing and didn’t receive a tech,” Doncic stated. “And that’s my issue … I was trying to refrain from speaking at all. This was the first thing I said, with no warning or anything. But I heard three other players say the same thing and faced no consequences. So it’s just, you know … I don’t know what to say.”

This marked Doncic’s 15th technical foul of the season. If he reaches 16, he will face a one-game suspension.

Doncic has previously reached 16 technicals in a season twice in his career, only to have the 16th rescinded before he had to serve the suspension.

He was asked if he would commit to avoiding a 16th technical against the Lakers this season.

“We’ll see,” Doncic replied. “Can’t predict the future.”