The Los Angeles Lakers return to the court on Sunday night hosting the Washington Wizards, although they are doing so without Anthony Davis.
Considering Davis has been playing at an extremely high level as of late, it was not ideal when he suffered a right foot injury in Friday night’s win over the Denver Nuggets.
Davis was able to finish out the half but clearly didn’t look like his usual self out there before eventually being ruled out for the rest of the night. The severity of Davis’ injury has not been revealed yet although he is reportedly expected to miss at least a month, which means L.A. is without him against Washington and in the near future.
In L.A.’s last battle with the Wizards a couple of weeks ago on Dec. 4, Davis did everything, finishing with a season-high 55 points to go along with 17 rebounds and three blocks.
Even without Davis though, this is still a game the Lakers should win as the Wizards have lost nine straight and 12 of their last 13.
It’s not just Davis that has been ruled out for the Lakers as Wenyen Gabriel and Juan Toscano-Anderson are both missing the game as well. It also looks like Patrick Beverley won’t play due to a sore calf. That leaves the Lakers a little short in the frontcourt, which puts extra pressure on guys like LeBron James and Thomas Bryant.
Bryant stepped up in Davis’ absence against the Denver Nuggets with a season-high 21 points. He should now enter the starting lineup against his former team.
James also had one of his best games of the season with 30 points, and he will have to continue to carry that scoring load without his co-star for the foreseeable future.
On the Wizards’ side, Bradley Beal has been dealing with a hamstring injury that has kept him out the last couple of weeks. That has led to Kyle Kuzma becoming Washington’s No. 1 option, so the Lakers will have to contain him to avoid a scoring outburst in his return to L.A.
Los Angeles Lakers (12-16) vs. Washington Wizards (11-19)
6:30 p.m. PT, December 18, 2022
Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, CA
TV: Spectrum SportsNet
Radio: 710 AM ESPN LA
Projected Lakers Starting Lineup:
PG: Dennis Schroder
SG: Austin Reaves
SF: Lonnie Walker IV
PF: LeBron James
C: Thomas Bryant
Key Reserves: Russell Westbrook, Troy Brown Jr., Damian Jones, Max Christie, Kendrick Nunn
Projected Wizards Starting Lineup:
PG: Monte Morris
SG: Corey Kispert
SF: Deni Avdija
PF: Kyle Kuzma
C: Kristaps Porzingis
Key Reserves: Daniel Gafford, Will Barton, Jordan Goodwin, Anthony Gill
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