For the Los Angeles Lakers, Anthony Davis is enjoying one of his greatest seasons to date. He was averaging close to 39 minutes per game, scoring over 26 points per game, grabbing a career-high 13 rebounds, and leading the NBA in blocks per game (3.7) through his first six games. However, Davis’ health has always been a concern, and on Monday it appeared like he suffered his first injury of the year.
Against the Miami Heat late in the second quarter, Davis was obviously experiencing agony in his left side. Shams Charania of The Athletic stated before halftime that he was experiencing hip and groin spasms but that he will attempt to play through the discomfort in the second half. After spending the opening few minutes of the third quarter on the floor, he was forced to return to the locker room because he was unable to continue playing. In 25 minutes, Davis ended with nine points, six rebounds, and four assists.
Luckily for the Lakers, Davis stated following the game (a 108-107 loss) that he is sure to play on Wed Christian Woodnesday when the Lakers play the Rockets in Houston. For a team that just could not have afforded to be without their star big man for an extended length of time, that is a huge relief right now.
The Lakers (3-4) beefed up their frontline this offseason by adding Jaxson Hayes and, but have dealt with injuries across the roster this season. Gabe Vincent, Rui Hachimura and Jarred Vanderbilt are also dealing with injuries at the moment, and depth has been an issue even after the offseason upgrades the Lakers made to their roster.
Even with Davis leading the NBA in blocks, the Lakers’ defense was ranked 20th coming into Monday. With Vanderbilt out of the picture, their perimeter defense is now having trouble keeping up with opponents, and their offense—which leads the nation in scoring—is ranked just twenty-first. The Lakers are really lucky that this is a temporary setback since they are not strong enough to function without him for an extended period of time.
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