The Los Angeles Lakers had a scary moment on Sunday night against the Toronto Raptors when superstar Anthony Davis was hit in the eye by Jakob Poeltl midway through the third quarter. He left the game immediately and would not return, leaving backup big Jaxson Hayes to fill his place next to a lineup of D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves, Rui Hachimura and Dalton Knecht.
When Hayes entered the game, the Lakers were trailing 73-70, a bad mark with the 2-8 Raptors in town. But Hayes immediately helped turn things around for L.A. They made some substitutions, but Hayes was on the floor for the entirety of a 14-6 run and an 18-9 stretch to end the third quarter.
In total, Hayes played 21 minutes and was a plus-21 with 12 points and six rebounds. He was instrumental in the Lakers ultimately securing a 20-point victory to move to 6-4 on the year. And Reaves — the Lakers’ leading scorer for the game with 27 — praised Hayes for his impact.
“I thought Jaxson was amazing tonight,” Reaves said. “From that third quarter on, he probably played one of his best games since he’s been here. Active defensively, being a scorer in the pocket, rebounder. I thought he did a lot of really good things.
“I thought Cam once again stepped up and played really good basketball, but I thought just as a collective group you’re never gonna fill AD’s shoes or one person because he does so much for us. But if we can collectively do it, we can get it done.”
As Reaves says, Davis is simply too great a player for one person to be able to successfully fill his shoes. But on Sunday, Hayes did about as good as anyone could hope. He was efficient and effective on the offensive end and played solid enough defense without fouling to let L.A. go on a run.
It’s unclear if Davis is going to need to miss any additional time at this stage. But if he does, the Lakers know they have a temporary option to replace him in Hayes, as he has shown at times the level of play he can bring in the right situation.
Anthony Davis having trouble seeing
After the game, head coach JJ Redick said Anthony Davis had trouble seeing after the injury but had no further updates.
“I just know that he got poked in it. He having he was having trouble seeing. Obviously, take a trauma to the eye and takes a little bit of time to sort of get your clear vision back. But other than that, no update,” Redick said.
According to recent reports, Davis will get the swollen eye looked at then the Lakers will proceed from there.
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