The recent loss against the Philadelphia 76ers was not a good one, but on the bright side, the Los Angeles Lakers saw Anthony Davis return to form.
Davis took it upon himself to be aggressive and find his old form, and he gave Lakers fans hope that there is a chance to turn the 2021-22 season around. Davis had to shoulder more of the load with LeBron James out due to knee soreness, but the big man himself was unable to build on his performance as he –along with James– was ruled out for the game against the Charlotte Hornets in the second of the back-to-back on Friday.
As far as their Sunday matchup with the Atlanta Hawks is concerned, head coach Frank Vogel said Davis and James have a shot at playing depending on how their injuries heal in the coming days.
“Day-to-day with both of those guys,” Vogel said. “Hopefully we get them both back, but we’ll have to see how their injuries are responding.”
James was a late scratch against the 76ers due to knee soreness, but Vogel did not sound too concerned about the severity of the issue. “No, right now there’s some swelling in there that they just want to get on top of. The hope is that that’s all it is.”
Availability has been a weak spot for the Lakers this year as players have constantly rotated in and out of the lineup, but it sounds like Vogel and the organization are still going to play it safe when it comes to their stars. After a pair of losses, it would be great to see both James and Davis suit up against the Hawks and get back in the win column.
Frank Vogel explains decision to sit Anthony Davis against Hornets
Davis grabbed at his wrist after falling in the game against Philadelphia but was able to finish out the contest. While he probably could have suited up against Charlotte, Vogel said it made sense to sit him on the second end of a back-to-back set given the wrist and also the knee injury he just came back from.
“He knew obviously without a lot of practice time to get his legs back underneath him, he knew that he was gonna have to work his way back into shape in games. And we knew with a back-to-back coming up so quickly that he might not play in both of those games based on how the knee was feeling. And then when he went down with the wrist last night, it just made sense to hold him out again.”
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