Oklahoma City’s Serge Ibaka goes up for a layup as Nuggets forward Joffrey Lauvergne defends, on Sunday night. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
LOS ANGELES — Joffrey Lauvergne and Nikola Jokic may or may not play on Tuesday at the L.A. Lakers, and the condition of each is tenuous at best as they each battle lower back injuries.
Both were in hurting after the Nuggets loss at Oklahoma City on Sunday night. Jokic had an ice pack strapped to his ailing lower back in the post-game locker room.
“That’s all we need, is more banged up bodies,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said. “But it’s the nature of the NBA. So, that’s it.”
Both are questionable and could be game-time decisions, as their condition has potential to fluctuate from when they wake up on Tuesday to after the morning shootaround to how they feel in pre-game warmups.
While Jokic’s injury is new, Lauvergne has been dealing with his sore back since the latter part of training camp. He said he had a shot prior to the Nuggets game against Minnesota last Friday, which helped alleviate some of the pain. But Sunday it popped back up, big-time. He left the game in the third quarter and did not return.
“After halftime I couldn’t do anything,” Lauvergne said. “I couldn’t move. I couldn’t play.”
Lauvergne has started each of the Nuggets’ first three games at center and is the team’s second-leading rebounder at 6.3 per game to accompany his 10.7 points per game. If he is not able to play, the Nuggets could replace him straight away with J.J. Hickson at center — or Jokic, if he is available — or elect to start Kenneth Faried at center in a smaller lineup.
Follow Chris Dempsey on Twitter @dempseypost or email him at cdempsey@denverpost.com
