Anthony Davis out with abdominal muscle strain, will be re-evaluated in one week
With Anthony Davis out for a week with an abdominal muscle strain, the Lakers have sent him back to Los Angeles, ending his road trip early.
On Tuesday, late in the first quarter, Anthony Davis suffered an abdominal strain and never returned to the court versus the Sixers.
The Lakers lost 118-104, ending their four-game winning streak. After the game, the most important question to ask was how long AD would be out.
Well, the team has the answer now. They have stated that Davis had an MRI that confirmed the injury and he will be re-evaluated in one week.
He is being sent back to Los Angeles and will not be with the team for the remainder of this road trip.
Lakers say Anthony Davis underwent an MRI today that confirmed an abdominal muscle strain.
— Khobi Price (@khobi_price) January 29, 2025
He'll return to Los Angeles today and will be re-evaluated in about one week.
Unfortunately, this is a brand new injury for AD. This season, he has only missed three games for the Lakers.
Davis was out vs. the Nets on Jan. 17 with plantar fasciitis, didn’t suit up versus the Blazers due to an ankle injury and missed the matchup in Memphis due to a left heel contusion.
Losing Davis for even a week will make stacking wins very hard for Los Angeles.
Currently, AD leads the team in points and rebounds per game. Given his position as a big, no one else can make up his production from that spot for the Lakers.
It will be interesting to see if Lakers head coach JJ Redick replaces him with Jaxson Hayes or two-way player Christian Koloko in the starting lineup or goes small with someone like Dorian Finney-Smith.
In the second half versus the Sixers, Redick went with DFS in the third quarter with AD unavailable. However, back in that January game versus the Nets, Jaxson Hayes got the start with Davis out.
The only glimmer of positivity regarding this injury is that AD will be re-evaluated in one week, which isn’t a long time, relatively speaking. Hopefully, that means he can return shortly, but as is true with any injury, caution has to be taken and everyone is different.
Ideally, L.A. will figure out how to at least float around .500 in the games AD will miss. This season, the Lakers are 2-1 in games where Davis doesn’t play.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.