Lakers star Anthony Davis, who exited Tuesday’s loss to Philadelphia in the first quarter due to an abdominal muscle strain, underwent an MRI on Wednesday that confirmed that diagnosis, the team announced (via Twitter).
According to the Lakers, Davis is heading back to Los Angeles and will be reevaluated in about one week. That means he’ll miss at least the three remaining games in the club’s Grammy road trip — Thursday in Washington, Saturday in New York, and next Tuesday at Intuit Dome vs. the Clippers.
The Lakers’ next home game is on Thursday, Feb. 6, the day of the trade deadline, against Golden State.
While it doesn’t necessarily sound like Davis’ ailment is significant, the timing isn’t great, given that the big man had been playing some of his best basketball of the season in the games leading up to the injury.
Davis racked up 42 points and 23 rebounds in a win over Charlotte on Monday after having put up 36 points and 13 rebounds in a victory over Golden State on Saturday. During his most recent four games entering Tuesday, he had averaged 32.8 PPG, 15.0 RPG, and 2.5 BPG, with the Lakers outscoring opponents by 60 points during his 136 minutes on the court.
The Lakers, who were up by three points when Davis exited on Tuesday, ended up losing to the Sixers by 14.
“When our best player goes out, it’s always challenging,” LeBron James said, per Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “If he’s out from the beginning, then we have a game plan set. We know what to expect, we know what our lineup is going to be. But when AD or any one of our guys go down throughout the course of a game, it’s just tough.”
Dorian Finney-Smith started the second half vs. the 76ers in place of Davis, as the Lakers utilized a small lineup that featured three forwards (Finney-Smith, James, and Rui Hachimura) and no true center. Head coach J.J. Redick may return to that look in the next few games, though reserve centers Jaxson Hayes and Christian Koloko also figure to play increased roles.
The injury news wasn’t all bad for the Lakers on Tuesday, as Hachimura returned following a two-game absence due to left calf soreness. Gabe Vincent (left knee soreness) sat out a second straight contest, but is considered likely to return during the road trip, as Khobi Price of The Orange County Register relays.
JJ Reddick needs to sit down Lebron and tell him Bronny is going down to the G league. that was embarrassing last night. Watching Bronny look so bad. LeBron needs to stop being selfish and let his son be his own man.
Bronny deserves to be in the NBA. I mean he’s currently sitting at 164th in scoring in the G league and couldnt defend guards in the Pac12 last year. NBA should be easy for him
He’s 1-19 FG in the NBA! I guess it’s fair to say there is room for improvement!
Bronny is an absolute waste of a roster spot!
The Lakers need to take a flyer on Isaiah Thomas. He remains a walking bucket. LeBron looks like a 40 year-old dude moving around on the court regardless of what his stats say. Lakers have major offensive issues whenever AD is out. If you were not wasting a roster spot on Bronny ….. A hungry Isaiah Thomas is a better option for a spark than a dude in Bronny who has no business playing in the league.
So, LeBron looks like he moves as if he’s 40..but signing a 36 year old 5″9 guy with bad hips, who has struggled to move for years and never been able to defend, is a good idea?
He can always back up the Brinks truck for Lebron…..
When all you are asking that 36 year-old to do is to provide a spark for 10-15 minutes per night off the bench, a bench struggling to score. The same 36 year-old who dropped 40 last night first game back while Bronny was getting cooked on defense and shooting 0-5…… Absolutely!!!
This is the NBA’s what? 79th season? I doubt, at least stat-wise, that the league has ever seen a worse player than Bronny. Pays to have daddy open doors for you.
AD wanted another player starting at center, the universe heard him
Vucevic’s price just went up after this injury.
So far nobody wants to give them a 1st round pick in the trade so the ball is in the Lakers court if they want to let go of a 1st round pick.
100% agreed with you Arc. It seems like everyone in the league is trying to get that 2027 pick unprotected. Lakers are holding it ransom like it’s the discovery to cancer or the common cold lol.
i am getting the feeling the trade deadline day will be very busy this year. Somebody is giving the Bulls a first round pick.
As a muslim…inshallah lmao that happens. As a realistic Bulls fan, I think we’re going to sit this trade deadline out since they have no direction and zero commitment to an actual rebuild. I think if we get a 1st, it’ll be 25-30 range. SMH
Anthony Davis hurt again??? I’m shocked.
He was doing pretty well this season. Up to now, that is.
Street Clothes got hurt trying to play defense on that Yabusele dunk. And it’s funny to hear LeBron say they would’ve played better if they knew from the start AD wasn’t going to play the rest of the night. Sixers were short like 6 guys and still ran the Lakers out of the gym. Then again, the Sixers beat the Lakers every time they come to Philly look it up.
Oh my. The last few seasons have not been kind to you lol
Given Anthony Davis injury history, do lakers go help the suns out by taking Nurkic as a reliable highly priced insurance back up?
Nurkic for Hayes, Wood, Vincent, Schafino work financially. Really just swapping salaries. Phoenix probably keepts Wood and Vincent for depth but cuts Schafino and Hayes. Or reroute their salaries in other deals for filler.
Lakers could then fill roster spots with some buy out candidates after trade deadline.
It would actually work well for both teams. Lakers could dump quite a few of their trash contracts and PHX can get rid of their 20 mill problem. It would also open a spot for Quincy O on the Lakers roster. Vincent is the only 26/27 money in the deal for PHX and PHX could use a little more point guard help…… James Jones & Pelinka should be talking but is Ishbia capable of anything but Jimmy Butthead?
Clippers’ flotsam can help the Lakers.
Kai Jones is a very athletic big (has great potential), can protect the rim. Just doesn’t find the right opportunity, and certainly his social media remarks while with the Hornets, didn’t help him getting a place, but he can give spot minutes if rim protection, and scoring/lob threat, and plus keep developing, he’s still very young.
Bones is another guy that can help and doesn’t get the space for a bigger role. He can definitely score, and the Lakers’ definitely need more bench scoring.
They should be extremely cheap on the market.
Would the clippers give them for his low market price to the Lakers’? Would they rather keep them DNP-CD before giving the Lakers’ a chance to bet on them panning out great and contributing?