After news that he (expectedly) rejected the Los Angeles Lakers’ extension offer, Anthony Davis fell too hard on the hardwood and had to exit the game early.
TheLos Angeles Lakersdefeated the New York Knicks by 30 points at Staples Center Tuesday night in a ragged physical affair. But the only news that anyone cared about was the condition of superstar forwardAnthony Davis.
Davis went down hard on his lower back attempting to make a block with 2 minutes left in the third quarter. Laker’s fans held their collective breath as Davis remained down on the floor in obvious pain for several minutes fearing the worst.
Davis was able to get up and gingerly walk off the court but remained in obvious pain as he headed back to the locker room where he was x-rayed. The x-rays revealed a bone contusion of the sacrum (lower back/tailbone).
Anthony Davis's X-Rays were negative, but he's sore, source says.
— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli)January 8, 2020
After the game, the Lakers brass announced that Davis would be further examined with an MRI and will miss the road trip coming up on the weekend where the Lakers play the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night and then the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday on a back to back.
Anthony Davis was able to walk in the player tunnel at Staples Center as the initial shock of the fall wore off, a source tells ESPN. The plan is for Davis to undergo an MRI on Wednesday. He is expected to miss the upcoming road trip in DAL & OKC to stay back and rehab.
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten)January 8, 2020
With Davis out for the weekend, other players will have to step in his absence. Davis last missed a game before a rough stretch for the Lakers started back in December. Davis was absent when the Lakers lost to the Indiana Pacers on December 17th.
Without Davis, the Lakers lost by three but bothDwight Howardand Javale McGee stepped up to combine for 30 points bu collectively only 14 rebounds on a night when the Pacers outrebounded the Lakers by one and Domantas scored 26 and collected 10 rebounds.
Howard and McGee will have to do better than the last time having to go up againstKristaps Porzingis(still questionable with a knee injury) on Friday andSteven Adamson Saturday.
Even if Howard and McGee step up this weekend a large portion of the scoring load will be missing in Davis’ absence. This is a perfect opportunity forKyle Kuzmato squash those trade rumors that have been recently plaguing him.
Kuzma has struggled this year with injuries and consistency after missing training camp. His scoring has been down (11.8) in limited minutes (23.5). Before Tuesday over his last three games, Kuzma had 33 points shooting terribly from the floor (.333) and three-point land (.294).
That kind of production won’t cut if the Lakers are going to get through this weekend and perhaps further without Davis.
If Davis is out for an extended amount of time the Los Angeles Lakers’ depth will be tested and the Rob Pelinka and the front office might make up their minds on personnel changes sooner than expected.
Wednesday morning update: MRI result shows gluteus Maximus bruise, Davis will travel with the Lakers but is questionable to play.
Add us as a preferred source onGoogleLoading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations