LaMelo Ball had to be helped off the court after he landed awkwardly on his right ankle on Sunday night in Orlando.
The injury occurred just before halftime when Ball drove the lane and went for a layup against Magic forward Paolo Banchero.
Ball came down at an awkward angle and then Banchero fell over him.
The Charlotte Hornets’ medical staff quickly came over to check on Ball as he was down on the court.
Ball was eventually helped up, but he couldn’t put any weight on his right foot and was taken straight to the locker room.
The Hornets announced that Ball suffered a right ankle strain and he would not return to the game.
Charlotte fell to the Magic, 130-117.
“You can’t worry about who is not there, because at the end of the day, it’s a long season,” Hornets head coach Steve Clifford said, according to the Charlotte Observer. “We are just starting. The other part is you better know, though, why you are winning and why you are losing. For us, we’ve done some good things. Our lack of depth has been a major, major problem. People talk about bad starts — it’s actually not our starters. Because of so many injuries, we break the lineup quicker than most teams do and it hasn’t been good for us.
“And we have to get to that (full strength). But I like our team. Getting Miles (Bridges) back is obviously a big, big piece in every aspect of the game. Melo (was) starting to play better. Mark Williams is playing better and better and there’s a lot to build on. I think our record is not where we hoped it would be, but again you have to know why that happens. If you overreact, you are never going to make the best of situations going forward.”
The potential loss of Ball will sting Charlotte a bit with him playing some of the best basketball of his career at the moment.
Ball has averaged 25.9 points and 8.6 assists a game, while he’s shot a career-best 38.9 percent from 3-point range. Even more impressive is what Ball has averaged more recently.
In the past nine games, Ball has averaged 32 points.
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