The Los Angeles Lakers have now completed all three of their scrimmages, meaning the next time they take the court will be on Thursday night when they face the L.A. Clippers in the first of eight seeding games.
Anthony Davis looked remarkable in the first two scrimmages, but a poke to the eye has now put his status in doubt. In the first quarter against the Orlando Magic on Saturday, Davis was inadvertently hit while grabbing a rebound.
Davis was forced to come out and was sidelined for the remainder of the game and the entire following scrimmage as well. Lakers head coach Frank Vogel said Davis was still experiencing some discomfort.
That remained the case Tuesday as the Lakers were back on the practice court, but without their All-Star big man. “He’s still dealing with some discomfort in his eye and he continues to be day-to-day. We’ll see how he feels tomorrow,” Vogel said.
“Dwight is still battling some soreness in his knees, did not do contact today. Kyle Kuzma is fine with his ankle and did practice today, and LeBron practiced today.”
With the NBA restart rapidly approaching, Vogel admitted to some uncertainty over Davis’ status for the highly-anticipated matchup with the Clippers. “While he’s still dealing with discomfort, there is some concern he could potentially not play Thursday,” Vogel said.
“But we’re hopeful that he does. We’ll see how that plays out. He’s going to continue to be evaluated each day. I don’t know if I’m really allowed to get into the details of it. That’s (discomfort) what they told me to report.”
While it is slightly concerning that Davis may miss the Lakers’ first seeding game, the hope is that this is just a case of the team being overly cautious with their star player.
The Lakers have the privilege of being able to sit Davis out without it greatly affected the team’s standing. They have a 5.5-game lead over the Clippers for first place in the Western Conference.
Shorthanded Clippers
While Davis could potentially wind up playing, the Clippers are guaranteed to be shorthanded. Lou Williams is serving a 10-day quarantine that was mandated by the NBA after it was discovered he visited a gentleman’s club upon leaving the bubble for a family emergency.
The Clippers are also aren’t expected to have Montrezl Harrell, as he too needed to leave Orlando for a brief stretch. The status of Patrick Beverley, another member of the Clippers that had to tend a family matter, is unclear as well.
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