LOS ANGELES — 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.
He was officially ruled out early in the third quarter, finishing with eight points, four rebounds and two assists in 12 first-quarter minutes.
Davis’ exit from Saturday’s game was immediately felt.
The Lakers had a 36-30 lead going into the second before getting outscored 37-30 during a quarter Davis didn’t play at all, leading to a 67-66 deficit at halftime.
Golden State got into the paint with ease once Davis was no longer on the floor.
“When you lose AD, it just hurts the balance of our team,” LeBron James said. “Our coaching staff has been pretty good with having a certain rotation and how we work in our rotations, so now that changes a lot of things. Golden State, you tip your hat to them. They played exceptionally well. It’s just tough when you have a big component to the puzzle and then you don’t have it.”
The Warriors scored just four points in the paint in the 12 first-quarter minutes that Davis played.
They scored 58 in the final three quarters off direct drives to the basket or passes into the paint against the Lakers’ smaller lineups.
Coach Darvin Ham said that Davis wasn’t able to see out of his left eye after getting hit and suffered from blurred vision.
“[The doctors] were working on him from the time he left the floor and went back to the training room through halftime,” Ham said. “So the biggest thing is just making sure he’s OK and we’ll get an update on him pretty soon.”
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Already without their bigger frontcourt players in Jarred Vanderbilt, Christian Wood and two-way big man Colin Castleton, in addition to Gabe Vincent and Cam Reddish being sidelined, the Lakers used Jaxson Hayes as the lone big man in the rotation for the final three quarters.
Davis has only missed four games this season and played 2,264 minutes entering Saturday, the sixth-most in the league.
“We’re not accustomed to playing without him,” D’Angelo Russell said. “That’s unfamiliar for us. But it’s no excuse. Everybody else that came in stepped up to the plate. But that’s a tough team, well-coached team.”
The Lakers (36-32) dropped to the No. 10 spot in the Western Conference standings with the loss to the Warriors – three games behind the Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks and Sacramento Kings with 14 games left.
“It’s going to take everything to scrape out some wins,” Russell said. “At this time of the year, they all matter. Every game matters, standings, all that matters.”
HAWKS AT LAKERS
When: Monday, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Crypto.com Arena
TV/radio: Spectrum Sports Net/710 AM