Hoping for a few rays of optimism after the trade deadline, the Lakers learned Thursday they can expect at least four more weeks of winter.

After twisting his right ankle hard on Wednesday night against the Utah Jazz, Anthony Davis was diagnosed with a mid-foot sprain and will miss at least four weeks before a reevaluation.

While it might be better news than first expected when the 28-year-old big man howled in pain and could not put any weight on his right foot as he was helped off the court, it’s still an enormous setback for the Lakers (27-31), who have taken more than their fair share of hits this season.

The official news arrived on Thursday evening after a day of diagnostic tests, including an MRI. But Davis knew as early as last night that his latest injury would keep him out for significant time. Teammates and coaches saw him at halftime on crutches, deeply frustrated.

“Just shaking his head about, you know, really everything,” Coach Frank Vogel said. “Obviously I’m not sure what it felt like, but just being frustrated about it looking like he’s going to miss some time again.”

While Davis has missed as much time as ever this season, playing in 37 of 58 possible games, he’s been valuable when on the court, averaging 23.1 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.3 blocked shots. When he missed 17 consecutive games with a left knee sprain earlier this season, the Lakers went just 7-10 without him.

The Lakers have just 24 games remaining. While one of the weeks encompasses the All-Star Break, Davis’ four-week recovery timeline means he’ll miss a minimum of 11 games. If he takes six weeks to play again, he’ll miss 18 games. And depending on the responsiveness of his foot – or how far the Lakers tumble in the standings – it seems possible that Davis might not play again this season.

Even though the Lakers were able to piece together a stirring fourth-quarter comeback against the Jazz, they were still shaken by Davis’ injury – and seemed to recognize its gravity.

“Once you see one of your brothers go down and not be able to put any weight on it when he’s leaving, it sucks, to say the least,” rookie guard Austin Reaves said.

The Lakers have slowly dropped in the Western Conference standings for most of the season, anchored down by injuries, iffy chemistry and constantly changing lineups. As of Thursday night, they were six games behind the sixth-place Denver Nuggets, which is where they would need to get to climb out of the play-in tournament.

But perhaps with Davis’ injury, they ought to be more concerned about who is pursuing them: At ninth place, the Lakers are currently in position for a single-elimination berth in the play-in, and 10th-place Portland is just 1½ games back, with 11th-place San Antonio 3½ games behind. Both New Orleans and Sacramento, though they’re well back in the standings, made win-now moves at the trade deadline in an effort to chase play-in spots.

The best reason the Lakers have to hope is LeBron James, who is averaging 29.1 points per game, his highest scoring average since 2010. He’s also shooting at his fifth-best efficiency (58.8% eFG), and small-ball lineups have helped unleash his offensive potency. James has scored 25 points or more in 23 straight games, which is the longest streak of his career and tied for the NBA’s active lead with Philadelphia big man Joel Embiid.

There’s also reason to think Russell Westbrook might finally be finding a bit of a groove after an uneven season. In his two games since the trade deadline, Westbrook has averaged 18 points, 7 rebounds and 5.5 assists while shooting 50% from the field. Vogel lauded Westbrook’s vocal leadership against Utah, helping rally the team, which came out of halftime flat after Davis’ injury.

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“I think what we saw tonight is he’s got a great care factor,” Vogel said. “He wants this thing to work at the highest level. He believes, like we all do, like we have a chance to do something special.”

But the schedule won’t get any easier: The Lakers have the third-toughest remaining schedule, with a .537 opponent win percentage. After the break, they play the Golden State Warriors, Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks twice, as well as dates against the Cleveland Cavaliers, 76ers and Toronto Raptors among others. They’ll have defining battles with teams they’re chasing in the standings, including the Minnesota Timberwolves and Clippers, and will have to stave off the Pelicans and Spurs from catching them.

The Lakers couldn’t help but have some pride after beating the Jazz in spite of the disappointment of Davis’ injury. Vogel framed the game as a sign of what could be to come.

“The season throws adversity at you,” he said. “Hopefully this game will be a lesson of what the big picture looks like for our team: Overcoming this type of adversity.”