With the 2023-24 regular season almost over, the Los Angeles Lakers continue to fight for optimal seeding in the Western Conference playoffs. They are ninth with a 45-34 record, and they trail the eighth-place Sacramento Kings by one-half game.
At the same time, they’re trying to hold off the 10th-place Golden State Warriors, who are 1 1/2 games behind them. Finishing 10th would mean visiting Golden State in the first game of the play-in tournament instead of playing it at Crypto.com Arena.
Finishing at least ninth would likely involve defeating the Warriors on Tuesday. Unfortunately for the Lakers, Anthony Davis will not play after getting hit in the eye early in Sunday’s loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Anthony Davis is out per the Lakers with a headache and nausea.
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) April 10, 2024
Darvin Ham on Anthony Davis: “He showed up (to the arena) trying to play but he just couldn’t get over the headache and the nausea”
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) April 10, 2024
The good news, per head coach Darvin Ham, is Davis isn’t in the NBA’s concussion protocol.
Ham says Davis is currently not in the concussion protocol https://t.co/ZvgaU81wir
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) April 10, 2024
Davis left Sunday’s contest after the end of the first quarter. At the time, L.A. trailed by just four points, but they soon found themselves getting outscored 46-27 in the second quarter.
The last time the Lakers played the Warriors, Davis also was hit in the eye late in the first quarter. He left afterward and didn’t return. Without him, their defense greatly suffered, resulting in a six-point lead at the end of the first period turning into a 128-121 loss.