{"id":411448,"date":"2025-11-28T21:47:19","date_gmt":"2025-11-28T21:47:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/411448\/"},"modified":"2025-11-28T21:47:19","modified_gmt":"2025-11-28T21:47:19","slug":"lakers-deandre-ayton-gets-100-real-on-injury-before-return-vs-mavericks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/411448\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers\u2019 Deandre Ayton gets 100% real on injury before return vs. Mavericks"},"content":{"rendered":"

The post Lakers\u2019 Deandre Ayton gets 100% real on injury before return vs. Mavericks<\/a> appeared first on ClutchPoints<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As the Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> (13\u20134) prepare for their final West Group B matchup in NBA Cup play Friday night against the Dallas Mavericks (5\u201314), center Deandre Ayton<\/a> opened up about the knee injury that briefly sidelined him and detailed the process that allowed him to return to the lineup. Ayton, originally listed as probable<\/a>, was upgraded to available early Friday.<\/p>\n

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Ayton spoke with ESPN\u2019s Dave McMenamin during Friday\u2019s shootaround, offering a candid account of the moment his injury occurred<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was kinda scary the way it felt,\u201d Ayton said. \u201cIt felt like my knee broke, it really was like a bone-to-bone contusion where he just hit my kneecap dead on with my patella and it was just like a bruising really, stuff I could play through. It\u2019s not really something that\u2019s stopping me from playing, it hurts but it\u2019s something I can play through.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 27-year-old missed Tuesday\u2019s 135\u2013118 NBA Cup win over the Los Angeles Clippers<\/a>, and he admitted the swelling made it impossible to suit up.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh no, I couldn\u2019t move that thing,\u201d Ayton said when asked how close he was to playing Tuesday. \u201cIt was too swollen \u2013 I had fluid in it really that\u2019s why I couldn\u2019t move the way I wanted to move until like the next day after getting all my medication. Just letting some of that stuff rest in and I woke up with a new knee \u2013 the swelling down, I just got straight to therapy and working out.\u201d<\/p>\n

McMenamin followed up by asking whether the knee required a draining procedure.<\/p>\n

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\u201cNo, not drained,\u201d Ayton said. \u201cIt was more like naturally after medication and all those inflammatory pills that I was taking and just really trying to rest up. I feel like that these two days we had just coming in and getting what you need \u2013 stayed on treatment. Yesterday, obviously being Thanksgiving but still having my guys come in and check on me was a big advantage so yeah, shootaround went pretty smooth with me as well. I had no knick knacks or uncomfortability.\u201d<\/p>\n

Deandre Ayton\u2019s return boosts the Lakers as they lead West Group B ahead of NBA Cup match vs. Mavericks<\/b>\"\u00a9<\/p>\n

\u00a9 Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Asked by another reporter whether he felt he rushed his return, Ayton responded bluntly.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI don\u2019t really got that many games,\u201d he said. \u201cEverybody say my life\u2019s on the line so they just keep that narrative.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ayton has been one of the Lakers\u2019 most efficient contributors this season. Through 15 games, he is averaging 15.5 points and 8.4 rebounds while shooting a career-best 69.6% from the field, giving Los Angeles a needed interior presence alongside stars Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves and LeBron James.<\/p>\n

Ayton also praised the team\u2019s recent momentum after clinching a spot in the NBA Cup quarterfinals with Tuesday\u2019s win.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was pretty cool to see especially seeing Bron and Luka and AR getting their groove back,\u201d Ayton said. \u201cI was just really watching on the sideline where I can help them, where they need me at as a big especially on the defensive end especially when we play big teams like tonight. Just being that anchor, the defense and just setting the tone early.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Friday\u2019s matchup at Crypto.com Arena also marks Anthony Davis\u2019 highly anticipated return<\/a>, as he is set to play his first game back in Los Angeles since being traded to the Mavericks last February. Davis has missed nearly a month with a calf strain suffered on Oct. 29.<\/p>\n

The Lakers enter the night at the top of West Group B with a 3\u20130 record and a +36 point differential, while Dallas looks to salvage its NBA Cup hopes and stop a frustrating slide.<\/p>\n

Related: Deandre Ayton shows Anthony Davis respect before Lakers-Mavericks matchup<\/a><\/p>\n

Related: Lakers make NBA Cup court change after Luka Doncic\u2019s complaints<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The post Lakers\u2019 Deandre Ayton gets 100% real on injury before return vs. Mavericks appeared first on ClutchPoints.…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":411449,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[6272,17378,3139,26152,3372,3363,224,3142,3141,3365,1260,62,73966,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-411448","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-anthony-davis","9":"tag-austin-reaves","10":"tag-dallas-mavericks","11":"tag-dave-mcmenamin","12":"tag-deandre-ayton","13":"tag-lebron-james","14":"tag-los-angeles","15":"tag-los-angeles-clippers","16":"tag-los-angeles-lakers","17":"tag-luka-doncic","18":"tag-nba","19":"tag-sports","20":"tag-the-lakers","21":"tag-united-states","22":"tag-unitedstates","23":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115629526525027632","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=411448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/411448\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/411449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=411448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=411448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=411448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}