The last thing that the Los Angeles Lakers needed right now was another injury to Anthony Davis, who went down with a sprained ankle last night in the second quarter against the Utah Jazz.
An MRI also revealed a sprained mid-foot, so the Lakers will shut Davis down for at least four weeks to recover from his sprained ankle and additional foot injury.
The Lakers (27-31) find themselves four games under .500 and treading water with the #9 seed in the Western Conference playoff standings. If the NBA did not revamp their playoff format and include a play-in tournament, the Lakers would bubble the postseason. The Lakers are 21 games out of first place with 24 games remaining.
The Lakers are +4000 odds to win the 2022 NBA Championship, but just +1800 odds to win the Western Conference title for the second time in the last three seasons.
In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, the Lakers ran the table in the NBA Playoff Bubble in Orlando to win the 2020 championship. However, the Lakers were bounced in the first round of the 2021 NBA playoffs by the Phoenix Suns after Davis went down with a groin injury.
If the Lakers win the Western Conference play-in tournament to secure the #8 seed, they will most likely meet the top-seeded Suns once again in the opening round.
AD Down… Again
Davis missed 21 games this season, including 17 games with a knee injury, which occurred in mid-December. The Lakers and Davis were lucky because it was only an MCL sprain and not a more serious injury. He still missed five weeks of action while waiting for his knee to heal. During that span, the Lakers went 7-10 and slipped to the #9 seed.
Davis appeared in only ten games before he went down with another injury. He averaged 22.6 ppg since his return. In 37 games with the Lakers this season, Davis averages 23.1 points, 9.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists, and 2.3 blocks per game.
On Wednesday night, Davis fell in the second quarter against the Jazz when he attempted to dunk an alley-oop. He immediately grabbed his ankle and needed assistance off the court.
“Obviously it’s sickening to see AD go down in that fashion,” said LeBron James. “Obviously his health is most important for him individually, for our ballclub.”
“It’s very deflating to see AD go down the way he did, and our guys tried to rally the necessary energy to start the second half,” said head coach Frank Vogel. “But there’s an energy that you have to overcome.”
The Lakers were down by seven at halftime, but rallied from behind to win by five points. need a healthy Davis if they expect to try to play the role of spoiler in the postseason.
The Lakers head into the All-Star Break and do not have another game until next Friday. LeBron will play in the All-Star Game as the captain for Team LeBron, but the rest of the team gets a much-needed break. There’s a good chance that Davis does not return until mid-March, so the Lakers need all hands on deck.