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Anthony Davis finished out the game as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Atlanta Hawks on Sunday night, but did suffer an ankle injury of some sort during the game. According to Dave McMenamin of ESPN, Davis doesn’t want to let his latest ding stop him from suiting up against the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday evening:
Anthony Davis, who turned his right ankle late in Sunday’s win over Atlanta, is “trying to play” in Tuesday’s game in IND, a league source tells ESPN. He’s approaching his treatment with the goal of being in the lineup as the Lakers try for their 15th straight road win.
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) December 16, 2019
After the game last night, Davis told reporters that he “tweaked (his ankle) a little bit,” but that he “wanted to just try and play the rest of the game off of adrenaline and then tend to it after the game.”
“It’s a little sore, but I have a couple of days to get it right for Indiana,” Davis said.
From the sound of McMenamin’s report, Davis is doing just that. He obviously shouldn’t go if the ankle is still giving him problems — lest he risk further injury — but the Lakers could really use him if he does, given how much he raises not just their ceiling as a team, but their floor as well:
But LeBron James’ thoughts on load management aside, this is the latest in an increasingly long list of dings for Davis, who has also dealt with shoulder soreness and a rib issue this year. Given that the Lakers are 24-3, it might be getting close to the time when it would make sense to let Davis get right for a game or two, regardless of if he wants to play.
This team has big goals for this year — title-winning goals — so making sure Davis has time to get as close to 100% healthy as possible would be a logical course of action to take if this ankle is really bugging him.
We’ll see what Davis is listed as on the injury report later today (UPDATE: The Lakers are listing him as questionable) but his status for Tuesday is worth watching.
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