Anthony Davis went to the ground grabbing his left thigh after taking a tumble following a driving layup attempt in the closing seconds of the first half against the Phoenix Suns in Game 4 of the Lakers’ first round series. After being evaluated in the locker room, the Lakers star did not return for the second half, with the team saying he has a left groin strain and will miss at least the rest of Sunday’s game.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Davis will be day-to-day moving forward.
After the game, Lakers head coach Frank Vogel would not specify what type of imaging or other evaluation the medical would be doing on Davis for the rest of the day.
“He’s undergoing further medical evaluation and we’ll have more information tomorrow,” Vogel said.
Davis already looked slightly limited in the first two quarters while trying to play through a knee sprain, and had 6 points on 2-9 shooting in 19 first half minutes before getting hurt. Vogel said he didn’t know until midway through the third quarter that Davis would not return for the game, but he felt like his star already was “laboring” through his knee issue.
“He was saying that his knee was sore, but that there was no way he was not going to play,” Vogel said. “I thought he gave a heck of a run at it trying to compete through pain.”
The Lakers were promptly outscored 27-15 in the third quarter after Davis exited, and ultimately lost the game 100-92 to even up the first round at 2-2.
It is unknown how long Davis will be out, but groin injuries do not typically come with a rapid recovery time. The next few days will be stressful for the Lakers, and anyone who roots for them. And if they’e missing Davis for Game 5, Vogel acknowledged they may have to go deeper into their bench.
“You look deeper into your bench to see if other guys are needed more now if he’s out for Game 5, and you make those decisions accordingly,” Vogel said.
Davis left the arena without speaking to the media, so his thoughts on all this will remain unknown.
With Davis out and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (knee contusion) already missing this game, the Lakers were down two of their regular starters against the Suns. Wesley Matthews started the game in Caldwell-Pope’s place, and Kyle Kuzma took Davis’ spot to start the second half, with Markieff Morris coming in for just the second time this series as extra forward depth later in the third quarter.
Game 5 will take place in Phoenix on Tuesday.
This story will be updated with more information as it becomes available.
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Lakers Injury Report: Anthony Davis day-to-day with groin strain - Silver Screen and Roll
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