Anthony Davis’ relative clean bill of health has allowed him to carry the Los Angeles Lakers during their most successful stretch during the 2023-24 season.
Davis has appeared in the most regular season games since his first year with the Lakers and the team has benefitted from having him on the floor. Davis is putting together arguably his best season as a pro as he’s dominated both ends of the floor.
However, Davis has had bad luck with getting hit in the face recently and he took another shot in the team’s loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Davis went up for a shot and took an inadvertent hit from Kyle Anderson in the eye that led to some immediate discomfort.
Although the All-Star big man was ruled out for the remainder of the night, the team reportedly believes he’ll be good to go for their matchup against the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN:
There is optimism that Anthony Davis will be able to return to the lineup on Tuesday against GSW, a source familiar with the situation told ESPN.
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) April 8, 2024
After the game, head coach Darvin Ham confirmed that Davis hurt the same eye he injured against the Warriors.
“The injury was the same what he hurt in terms of him getting hit in the eye. But that’s about it. No updates right now,” Ham said postgame.
The loss to the Timberwolves dropped the Lakers back down to the ninth seed, making their matchup against the Warriors a big one because they hold a slim 1.5 game lead over them. Los Angeles could very well fall down to 10 if they lose to Golden State and drop another game either to the Memphis Grizzlies or New Orleans Pelicans.
Davis hurting the same eye is concerning because any loss of vision would make it hard for him to be effective on the floor. The Lakers are already managing LeBron James who has a nagging ankle injury, so a hampered Davis significantly diminishes their chances of making any sort of noise in the playoffs.
Hopefully Davis gets the treatment he needs and doesn’t show any ill effects on come Tuesday against Golden State.
Anthony Davis says Lakers are aware of Western Conference playoff positioning
At this juncture of the regular season, teams in the playoff hunt will be playing their hardest to improve their chances of moving up in the standings. Davis acknowledged that Los Angeles is well-aware of their postseason positioning and are doing their best to stack wins.
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