Update 2: The Lakers are officially calling the injury a “gluteus Maximus contusion” so it may not be as severe as initially thought. Davis is being listed as questionable for Friday’s game against the Mavericks and he will travel with the team. The Lakers play again on Saturday against the Thunder
Update: According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, Anthony Davis’ MRI returned with clean results. Davis, who reportedly will sit out of the next two games on the road, is expected to travel with the team. That could perhaps mean that he will try to play through the injury, depending on the severity. The usual timeline for a return from his diagnosed injury is two weeks.
MRI results on Lakers star Anthony Davis’ lower back injury returned clean and he plans to travel with team on two-game road trip (Dallas, OKC), league sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 8, 2020
Original Story Follows:
Late in the third quarter during Tuesday’s huge 117-87 win against the New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers superstar Anthony Davis went down hard after a fall. He was contesting a shot in the rim, got hit in mid-air, and appeared to fall onto his lower back/tailbone. The team announced Davis suffered a “sacral contusion”, with its severity being explained below.
Per @LakersReporter, AD has a sacral contusion. Typically takes around 2 weeks to get back to 100% but playing is a matter of managing the soreness and discomfort.
— Dr. Rajpal Brar, DPT (@3cbPerformance) January 8, 2020
Dave McMenamin/ESPN quickly reported after the game that the severity described above is real, as Davis will be expected to miss the Lakers’ upcoming road trip.
Anthony Davis was able to walk in the player tunnel at Staples Center as the initial shock of the fall wore off, a source tells ESPN. The plan is for Davis to undergo an MRI on Wednesday. He is expected to miss the upcoming road trip in DAL & OKC to stay back and rehab.
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) January 8, 2020
The road trip, as described above, includes back-to-back games on Friday and Saturday, against the Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder, respectively. The games weren’t going to be easy with Anthony Davis in the lineup, and they sure as hell won’t be easy with him staying home in Los Angeles.
However, as the Lakers are now 30-7 with a 4.5 game lead for first place in the Western Conference, the team can afford to let Davis get his rest and hopefully return to 100% before he gets on the court again. It’ll be up to LeBron James, Kyle Kuzma, and the rest of the Lakers to step up while Davis is gone, and hopefully win at least one of those two games.
It was previously reported that the x-rays on Davis came back negative, but the team will look for more potential damage with the MRI being received tomorrow. The Lakers will then probably give a timetable for Davis’ recovery, as he may end up missing more than these upcoming two games.
The Lakers will return home on Monday, January 13th to play the Cleveland Cavaliers. They will then embark on a five-game road trip starting on Saturday, January 18th, before returning to the Staples Center on January 28th to play their rivals across the hall, the Los Angeles Clippers.
