LeBron James won’t play for Lakers against Pacers after elbow injury

DENVER — LeBron James didn’t hold back from his retorts over his late-in-the-game elbow injury Thursday night against the Denver Nuggets.

The 41-year-old Lakers star, who broke the NBA’s career field goals record in the Lakers’ 120-113 defeat, went up for a driving layup and absorbed contact from Nikola Jokic and tumbled under the basket into a row of photographers. James immediately grabbed at his left elbow – as officials deemed there wasn’t a foul on the play – and remained out of action as Denver guard Julian Strawther earned a trip to the free-throw line at the other end before Lakers coach JJ Redick could sub James out of the game.

“It’s the same [expletive]: ‘Marginal,’” James said after the game when asked if he received an explanation as to why Jokic didn’t get called for a foul. “It’s the same [expletive]. It’s, it’s, it’s … whatever. That’s all they keep saying is, ‘marginal.’ I’m so [expletive] tired of that word. It doesn’t make no sense.”

Scoring 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting on Thursday, James returned to the court for the final two minutes of the game, toughing out what he called a sore elbow and a “super intense” funny bone sensation as the Lakers attempted to mount a comeback. On Friday, the Lakers announced that James would sit out that night’s game against the Indiana Pacers with a left elbow contusion – a blow to the Lakers, who had yet to without one of their three stars for any game since the All-Star break concluded.

“We’ll see what happens over the next couple days,” James said after the game. “Hopefully I’ll wake up tomorrow and (my elbow) doesn’t feel too much worse than it is now. Or, if it feels better, that would be great. So, it’s day-to-day, we’ll see what happens.”

The Lakers have an 11-7 record this season without James, averaging 114.7 points per game and 49.2% shooting from the field.

Center Deandre Ayton, who left Thursday’s game after just over four minutes with left knee soreness, was also unavailable to play against the Pacers, the team announced. Guard Marcus Smart, whose locker is to the right of Ayton’s, said Ayton told him how sorry he was he could not return to the game.

“I know as of lately he’s been getting a lot of backlash for his effort and his play,” Smart said of Ayton. “He understands it. I know it might not seem like it, but he does and he wants to do good and he wants to help this team and I think that’s what more frustrating for him, because he’s trying.”

Backup big man Maxi Kleber will also miss his second consecutive game, having his injury diagnosis switched from back soreness to a lumbar back strain, per Friday’s league-mandated status report.

Redick said after the game Thursday that he was “very confident” in backup center Jaxson Hayes’ ability to start should the opportunity arise. Hayes scored 19 points in the Lakers’ loss to the Nuggets.