Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis was ruled out on Tuesday night’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers with an abdominal muscle strain.
The big man played 10 minutes in the first quarter and recorded four points, two rebounds and a steal before suffering the injury. He was then forced to head back to the locker room to get his abdominal region looked at before eventually being ruled out for the night.
It’s a massive loss for the Lakers, who were already shorthanded without Jarred Vanderbilt and Gabe Vincent in the lineup. They came in winners of four straight but have typically struggled immensely, especially defensively, when Davis is not in the lineup.
Without Davis, guys like Jaxson Hayes and Christian Koloko will continue to see action at center while head coach JJ Redick can also go small in spurts.
It remains to be seen how serious of an injury the abdominal strain is, but the Lakers are set to play the Washington Wizards on Thursday and then the New York Knicks on Saturday before returning back to L.A.
Davis usually does everything he can to play through minor injuries and will likely do the same with this, although the organization will surely be cautious to make sure the injury doesn’t linger.
It’s no secret that the Lakers are short on frontcourt depth and cannot afford to lose Davis for an extended period of time given how crowded the Western Conference standings are. Perhaps this pushes general manager Rob Pelinka to make a trade sooner rather than later though as the Lakers are known to be in the market for another center.
Anthony Davis discusses 40-20 game
This injury comes at an especially rough time for Anthony Davis as he is coming off his best game of the season with 42 points and 23 rebounds in the Lakers’ win over the Charlotte Hornets on Monday night. After the monster night, Davis discussed the role his teammates played in getting him going offensively.
“Shot was just feeling good. Teammates did a good job of setting me up, especially Austin. In the pocket, the jumper, getting to the line. All facets of the game was working. Missed two 3s but yeah, it’s the entire team. Not just me. The way we’ve been playing and moving the basketball, we’ve been playing for each other. Not caring who scores as long as we score. Just been opening things up for me.”
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