LOS ANGELES_Kyle Kuzma had already been playing astronomical minutes on a sprained right ankle. On Friday night against the Minnesota Timberwolves, he sprained his left ankle. Although he tried to return to the game, Kuzma couldn't.
He played only 18 minutes, half his average since March 3, another injury to a key player as the Lakers' season winds down.
The Lakers took their shot early against the Timberwolves, a team likely bound for the playoffs, but ultimately fell, 113-96. Jeff Teague led all scorers with 25 points while Jimmy Butler, who played for the first time since missing 17 games with a meniscus injury, scored 18 points. Taj Gibson added 18 for Minnesota as well. The Lakers committed 21 turnovers.
The Lakers, who were playing without Lonzo Ball or Brandon Ingram, were led by Julius Randle and Josh Hart, each of whom scored 20 points.
"We got guys on our team who've played in four straight games (between the NBA and the G-League), Kuz goes down, our guys are tired," Lakers Coach Luke Walton said. "But the way that (the Timberwolves) get after it defensively, if you're not strong with the ball and you're not being the aggressor ... they're gonna make you pay. They got 100 shots up, we got 79 because of turnovers and offensive rebounds."
They took a 12-point lead in the first half with Brook Lopez scoring 18 first-half points. Hart added 12 before the break. The Lakers led by eight at halftime, a lead the Timberwolves quickly erased at the start of the third quarter.
Since the start of the calendar year, the Lakers have struggled to stay healthy. Ball missed six weeks with a sprained MCL starting January 13. He returned for one month before a left knee bruise, which has caused him to miss the past five games, including Friday's. Ball was at Staples Center on Friday.
Hart missed 14 games with a broken hand, on which he had surgery. Hart returned to the Lakers' lineup last week.
Ingram missed 12 games with a groin strain. He returned for two games before suffering a concussion from which he is still recovering.
Ingram and Ball might not play again this season, which meant the bodies the Lakers had were all that much more important. Kuzma averaged 39 minutes heading into Friday's game, since March 3 when he began starting for the Lakers.
A right ankle injury didn't hamper Kuzma, at least not to a degree that he ever admitted.
"He wanted to play and he showed through the training room and by the way he was playing that it was no concern," Walton said.
That's why they knew something was really wrong when Kuzma came to Walton in the third quarter and asked his coach to take him out of the game.
"Kuz doesn't (do that)," Walton said. "He wants to stay out on the floor. He was struggling with it."
