Tag: anthony davis

Anthony Davis dealing with eye contusion

Via the OC Register:

Anthony Davis, who had an early exit from the Lakers’ 128-121 Saturday loss to the Golden State Warriors at Crypto.com Arena because of an eye contusion, is questionable for Monday’s home game vs. the Atlanta Hawks because of a left corneal abrasion, per the team.

Davis went back to the Lakers’ locker room in between the first and second quarters after getting hit in the eye by Trayce Jackson-Davis on a layup with 2:47 left in the first.

The All-Star big man didn’t get back on defense on the ensuing Warriors’ possession.

Davis stayed in the game until the final three seconds of the quarter, subbing out alongside Jaxson Hayes as part of an offensive-defensive substitution at the end of the quarter before heading back to the locker room in between quarters.

The Lakers are 36-32 this season, which is the 10th best record in the Western conference.

Lakers beat Pacers in 2023 NBA In-Season Tournament championship game

OC Register: Lakers coach Darvin Ham said ahead of Saturday’s In-Season Tournament championship game between his team and the Indiana Pacers that he didn’t want to reveal too much of their strategy. But the way the Lakers attacked the Pacers’ defense said everything that needed to be known about their gameplan: constantly attack the paint against an Indiana team that allows points in the paint at a league-worst rate (62.5 points per game).

OC Register: And the strategy worked, with the Lakers beating the Pacers 123-109 at T-Mobile Arena to win the inaugural Tournament and NBA Cup – and roughly $7.75 million spread throughout the Lakers roster and additional monetary compensation for the coaching staff. The Lakers attacked the heart of the Pacers’ defense repeatedly, scoring 86 points in the paint – more than they have in any other game this season – to make up for their lack of perimeter shooting (2 of 13 on 3-pointers).

ESPN.com: The Los Angeles Lakers are tied with the Boston Celtics for the most championships in NBA history. But after Saturday night, they are the only team in NBA history to have won the NBA Cup. Behind a masterful performance from Anthony Davis, who had 41 points, 20 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 blocks, the Lakers won the inaugural in-season tournament with a 123-109 victory over the Indiana Pacers at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday night. LeBron James, who added 24 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists, was named tournament MVP.

ESPN.com: The NBA Cup may be new, but the lesson it taught was as old as the league itself. To win anything of value, and the in-season tournament seems to have quickly established itself as such an event, you’re going to need superstars. In a way, that future Hall of Famers and champions LeBron James and Anthony Davis’ brilliant play proved to be the deciding factor in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 123-109 victory over the Indiana Pacers to claim the first-ever edition of the event verified its consequence. Playing on a neutral floor in December in a single game, it was hard to truly compare Saturday night it to any sort of playoff setting. But one thing was for certain, it was treated like an elimination game. There were aggressive game plans, heavy minutes and intensity. Situations where James has thrived for a long time.

Injury update on Lakers center Anthony Davis

Via the Los Angeles Times:

Lakers star big man Anthony Davis said pain in his right foot has been significantly reduced and imaging has shown that he’s progressing in his healing.
Though Davis hesitated to put a timetable on his return, he said things are moving in the right direction.

“It’s healing pretty quickly,” Davis said. “So when we get back to L.A., we’ll do another image of the foot, and see how far it’s healed since the last time I did it, which was the 22nd or the 23rd. And it’s really just about pain. The pain is still there, I still feel it a little bit, not as much as I did before. More like a two [out of 10], trending down to one. I’ve been lifting, and lifting is fine. Everything I do in the weight room is fine.

“If I see that it’s healed properly, or enough where I can go start ramping up on the court, then we’ll start that process.”

The Lakers are 15-21 this season, which is the 13th best record in the Western conference.

Davis is averaging 27.4 points, 12.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists in minutes per game.

Anthony Davis exits early in Lakers win over Nuggets

Via the OC Register:

The start of the second half featured a concerning moment for Lakers fans everywhere: Anthony Davis didn’t come back out on the court.

Teammates, coaches and team officials have tied the success of the franchise to Davis’ high performance and good health – which has been seen too infrequently over the past two years. Davis sitting out the second half Friday night against the Denver Nuggets with a right foot injury struck as an ill omen.

Except something funny happened: It didn’t slow down the Lakers.

LeBron James and Russell Westbrook, the two stars who have often seemed like a clunky on-court fit, powered a surprising 126-108 victory against the Nuggets, the third-place team in the Western Conference. After two disappointing overtime losses in their previous three games against high-level opponents, the Lakers (12-16) came out hungry and hustling, in spite of a size advantage that never really became an issue.

FULL ARTICLE

Lakers bring Russell Westbrook off bench in loss to Timberwolves

The 0-5 Lakers are still trying to find out the best way to utilize Russell Westbrook’s skill-set. Via ESPN.com:

Russell Westbrook came off the bench in a regular-season game for the first time since his rookie year in the Los Angeles Lakers’ 111-102 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves and impressed his team by taking to the role.

“He was great,” said LeBron James, who said Westbrook’s energy “catapulted” L.A.’s overall effort. “He was great all game.”

Westbrook played 33 minutes, more than he had in any of the three games he started this season, and finished with 18 points, eight rebounds and three assists. However, he shot 6-for-17 overall and 5-for-10 from the free throw line and was responsible for five of the Lakers’ 22 team turnovers.

Anthony Davis didn’t play, so LeBron started alongside a very limited supporting cast.

FULL ARTICLE

Lakers fire head coach Frank Vogel

The Los Angeles Lakers have fired head coach Frank Vogel.

Vogel was the 27th head coach in franchise history. During his tenure, Vogel compiled a 127-98 (.564) record and led the Lakers to their 17th NBA championship during the 2019-20 season.

Per the Los Angeles Times, “the Lakers fired coach Frank Vogel on Monday just two years after he led the team to its 17th NBA championship and first since 2010. In the seasons since, Vogel’s teams have been decimated by injuries to LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the Lakers losing in the first round of the 2021 playoffs before missing the postseason in 2022. It culminated with a 49-loss season during which the Lakers were never more than three games over .500 and in which Vogel used 40 starting lineups.”

Per the Orange County Register, “LeBron James spoke to reporters Monday morning as Vogel’s status remained unconfirmed. He said he had not been told that Vogel had been fired: “I’ve seen the reports just like everybody else.”

“I have a tremendous amount of respect for Frank both on and off the court,” said Rob Pelinka, the Lakers Vice President of Basketball Operations and General Manager. “Frank is a great coach and a good man. We will forever be grateful to him for his work in guiding us to the 2019-20 NBA championship. This is an incredibly difficult decision to make, but one we feel is necessary at this point. All of us here wish Frank and his wonderful family all the best for the future.”

Lakers’ Anthony Davis out with foot sprain

Once again, Anthony Davis is injured. Via ESPN.com:

Anthony Davis will be out at least four weeks after an MRI showed that the Los Angeles Lakers star has a mid-foot sprain, the team announced Thursday.

Davis suffered the injury in the team’s 106-101 win against the Utah Jazz on Wednesday.

He underwent X-rays that night at Crypto.com Arena that revealed no fracture, according to the team, but an MRI Thursday revealed the sprain.

The Lakers said team doctors will reevaluate the star big man in four weeks.

The Lakers are just 27-31 this season, which is the 9th best record in the Western conference. They haven’t looked like a championship contender at all this season, and with the way things are going will have to hustle and step things up just to make the playoffs. A task made even more difficult with this Davis injury.

Anthony Davis set to return for Lakers

The Lakers are about to receive a big boost. Via the Orange County Register:

After the week the Lakers had, they need good news.

It came on Monday afternoon, when Anthony Davis was upgraded to probable for Tuesday’s game against the Brooklyn Nets. It now appears likely that the 28-year-old All-Star big man will return from a 17-game absence from a sprained MCL in his left knee, which could help lift the eighth-place Lakers (23-24) back into the upper half of the Western Conference standings.

The Lakers are cautiously optimistic, waiting to see how Davis feels on Tuesday before tip-off, but having him back would be a huge lift…

The Lakers have struggled to a 7-10 record without Davis, who was averaging 23.3 points, 9.9 rebounds and 2 blocked shots per game when he was hurt in Minnesota back on Dec. 17. His return is going to significantly change the Lakers’ style and rotations.

Lakers’ Anthony Davis out at least four weeks with knee injury

A key Lakers star will be out of action until early 2022. Via the Orange County Register:

Amid a bumpy start, the Lakers (16-14) have continued to insist that at full strength they can be a contender.

But after Jaden McDaniels rolled into Anthony Davis’ left knee Friday night, that timeline got pushed back even further.

The Lakers announced Saturday an enormous injury setback for Davis, 28, who will miss at least four weeks (and could miss more) with an MCL sprain in his knee. The injury was confirmed the day after he was hurt against the Minnesota Timberwolves, when the team was able to get an MRI in Davis’ hometown of Chicago.

Not only will Davis miss a coveted matchup Sunday against the Bulls, his childhood team, but he’ll miss a month in a season quickly gone haywire for the Lakers, who have also been hammered by positive coronavirus tests in the past week.

The Lakers are just 6th in the Western conference.

Their scorers so far in 2021-22 are LeBron James at 25.7 ppg, Davis at 23.3 ppg, Russell Westbrook at 19.4 ppg, new addition Isaiah Thomas at 19.0 ppg in one game played, and Carmelo Anthony mostly off the bench at 13.2 ppg.

Lakers’ Anthony Davis out at least another two weeks

Anthony Davis, who has been out of action due to a right calf strain, was examined by team doctors this evening. The Lakers say that he is progressing in his recovery and has been cleared to enter the next phase of his return to play process.

Davis will be re-evaluated by team doctors in two weeks.

In 23 games played for the 24-13 Lakers this season, Davis is averaging 22.5 points, 8.4 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.8 blocks in 32.8 minutes per game.