As the Los Angeles Lakers (13–4) prepare for their final West Group B matchup in NBA Cup play Friday night against the Dallas Mavericks (5–14), center Deandre Ayton 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 , was upgraded to available early Friday.

Ayton spoke with ESPN’s Dave McMenamin during Friday’s shootaround, offering a candid account of the moment his injury occurred .

“It was kinda scary the way it felt,” Ayton said. “It 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’s not really something that’s stopping me

See Full Page