The Los Angeles Lakers announced that star Anthony Davis underwent an MRI that confirmed an abdominal muscle strain. Davis will return to Los Angeles on Wednesday and be re-evaluated in approximately one week.
The injury occurred in the first quarter of Tuesday night’s game at Philadelphia as Davis was forced to head back to the locker room and was eventually ruled out of the game. The result was not pretty as the Lakers turned a first quarter lead into a blowout loss once Davis went down.
Davis and the Lakers have been playing extremely well in recent weeks, so this injury comes at an important time. If he will be re-evaluated in a week, that means he will miss at least three games against the Washington Wizards, New York Knicks and L.A. Clippers to close out the road trip. He of course could also be out longer than that.
NBA All-Star Weekend is also just around the corner from Feb. 13-19, so perhaps the Lakers are cautious and keep Davis out through that in order to get him more rest and make sure the injury doesn’t linger.
In Davis’ absence, the Lakers will likely turn to Jaxson Hayes as their starting center with two-way players Christian Koloko and Trey Jemison III backing him up. Head coach JJ Redick could also opt to go small at times with LeBron James, Rui Hachimura, Dorian Finney-Smith or Jarred Vanderbilt at center.
While this is not an ideal situation to be in, Davis getting hurt and the team having to manage without him for a stretch was always a possibility. That is why there was a need to add more frontcourt depth going back to the offseason, although the front office still has not addressed it to this point.
Anthony Davis wants Lakers to acquire another center
Even before Anthony Davis got injured, the Lakers’ need for a center was glaring. So much so that Davis came out and said it himself, stating his desire to play more power forward.
“I think we need another big,” Davis said. “I feel like I’ve always been at my best when I’ve been a four and having a big out there. We know it worked when we won a championship with JaVale and Dwight, them at the five and I’m at the four.”
It will be interesting to see if Davis’ injury leads to the acquisition of another center so the Lakers can try to stay afloat until he returns.
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