LOS ANGELES — J.J. Hickson flashed his trademark smile, then coolly answered the question: Are you ready for bigger minutes?
"Oh, I'm ready," Hickson said. "I'm ready."
Hickson, a reserve Nuggets center, is likely in line for extended minutes in Tuesday night's game against the L.A. Lakers due to back injuries to rotation players Joffrey Lauvergne and Nikola Jokic. Both are game-time decisions, and only Lauvergne was able to go through some parts of the morning's shootaround.
"I'm still hopeful that they'll be able to go tonight, but backs are a tricky thing," Nuggets coach Michael Malone said.