The Los Angeles Lakers missed out on a massive opportunity to move up in the standings as they dropped their final home game of the 2023-24 season to the Golden State Warriors.
The Lakers have been making a late-season push to improve their Play-In Tournament positioning, but without Anthony Davis and a fully healthy LeBron James, they didn’t have enough firepower to overcome the Warriors. Defensively, Los Angeles struggled to get out to Golden State’s players and they made them pay with 26 made 3-pointers.
Initially, there was optimism that Davis would be able to suit up against the Warriors after he got hit in the eye against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Davis was forced to exit the game, but the team seemed hopeful that he would play in the pivotal Warriors matchup.
Before the loss, head coach Darvin Ham revealed that Davis tried everything he could to be ready but wasn’t cleared because of his symptoms. “Super big game, obviously,” Ham said. “He showed up to the arena trying to do everything he could to play but just couldn’t overcome the headache and nausea.”
Headaches and nausea usually indicate a concussion, but Ham said that Davis wasn’t placed in concussion protocol after being asked if he was evaluate for that reason.
“Yeah, he’s currently not in concussion protocol,” Ham said.
It’s good that Davis wasn’t placed in protocol because then he would need to clear a series of steps before being cleared to play. However, it’s concerning that he was forced to sit despite having a couple of days to receive treatment and recover.
Regardless, Los Angeles now has to deal with the reality that they will likely be playing in the 9-10 matchup of the Play-In Tournament next week. The purple and gold would need to win two games to qualify for the postseason, a tall task considering there’s a chance that they could be on the road for both contests.
At this point, the Lakers need to do everything they can to ensure that Davis is ready to go as they’ll definitely need him if they want to keep their postseason hopes alive.
Darvin Ham proud of Lakers’ effort after losing Anthony Davis against Timberwolves
On the second night of a back-to-back, Los Angeles put up a valiant fight against Minnesota. Davis exited the game late in the first quarter but did not return afterward.
However, the Lakers continued to pull off the upset and Ham acknowledged how proud he was of the team for not giving up.
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