The main reason for the Los Angeles Lakers’ recent turnaround has been the play of Anthony Davis as he has ben dominating on both ends of the floor.
In 25 games this season, Davis has been playing at an MVP level, averaging 27.4 points, 12.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.3 steals and 2.1 blocks per game.
Unfortunately though, Davis went down with a foot injury during Friday night’s loss to the Denver Nuggets. He suffered the injury early in the game and was able to play through it in the first half. He clearly didn’t look like his usual self though and eventually was ruled out for the rest of the game at halftime.
It was originally reported that the Lakers were not concerned it would be a long-term injury for Davis. It appears after undergoing some testing though they concluded that Davis will miss significant time, via Shams Charania of The Athletic:
Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis is expected to miss at least one month after suffering a right foot injury, multiple sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 18, 2022
Lakers are bracing for an indefinite absence for the Lakers star, sources say, after he sustained the right foot injury in Friday’s win over Denver. Davis has played arguably the most dominant ball of his career this season. https://t.co/WCTr2y7eNp
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) December 18, 2022
This is certainly not ideal for a Lakers team looking to turn their season around after a rough 2-10 start. The Lakers have been playing better basketball of late to get back in the postseason race, although they will now have to continue that without Davis for at least a month.
In his absence, Thomas Bryant will likely enter the starting lineup while other guys like Wenyen Gabriel and Damian Jones will have to step up as well.
James speaks to importance of Nuggets win without Davis
After Davis went down on Friday night, the Lakers rallied to beat Nikola Jokic and a good Nuggets team. LeBron James spoke to the importance of that win, especially with the potential that Davis could miss some time.
“I mean, it’s huge, especially after the heartbreaking loss we had against Boston,” James said of the team effort on Friday night. “For us to come back a couple nights later and, you know, kind of play well at times and then get down and make a rally and guys off the bench making the biggest impact for the game. I think it was huge.
“I mean, like you said, Russ, you know, AR, Troy [Brown Jr.], Max [Christie], and Thomas [Bryant]. They were just phenomenal. I mean, look at it. They’re all in the plus. We needed every single minute. All the minutes we got from them. It was huge.”
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