Lakers News: Anthony Davis Out For Wizards Rematch
When Los Angeles Lakers All-Star center Anthony Davis collided with Denver Nuggets MVP big man Nikola Jokic midway through the first quarter of last night's eventual 126-108 L.A. win, the gathered Crypto.com Arena faithful were audibly concerned.
AD departed the game to check up on his foot, then elected to return during the second frame, though he was clearly hobbled. He eventually departed for the team locker room and would not play at all during the game's second half.
Shockingly, the 12-16 Lakers were able to generate enough offense to blow out the 17-11 Nuggets after halftime, thanks in part to the stellar contributions of AD's understudy, 6'10" big man Thomas Bryant. Bryant had 21 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the floor, plus six rebounds.
It looks like L.A. may be leaning on Bryant to step up his game for at least one more contest.
Dave McMenamin of ESPN reports that Davis will sit for the team's upcoming rematch against the Washington Wizards tomorrow at home with what the team is calling "right foot soreness."
McMenamin notes that Lakers head coach Darvin Ham told reporters that Davis got X-rays last night. Though the Lakers managed to pull off perhaps their single-most impressive victory of the year, especially considering the absence of Davis in the second half (it's this or the Milwaukee Bucks road win), AD's fellow All-Star big man LeBron James cautioned that losing the team's best player could prove costly for L.A. should he miss extended time.
"Our team is built on having pretty much everyone," James said, per McMenamin. "So, we'll make the adjustment accordingly, but we haven't done it, so we don't know what that would look like."
Mike Trudell of Lakers.com reports that Davis will be getting more testing done on the right foot this weekend.
Davis, an eight-time All-Star, is averaging 27.4 points on .593/.290/.826 shooting, 12.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 2.1 blocks and 1.3 steals a night across 25 games.
