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Lakers center Anthony Davis left the team’s game against the New York Knicks in the third quarter after landing hard on his back following a collision around the rim with Knicks forward Julius Randle. He missed the rest of the game with a sacral contusion/bruised tailbone, according to the team.
The Lakers say Davis's injury is a "sacral contusion" which is a bruise to the bone right above one's tailbone. He won't return to this game.
— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) January 8, 2020
Frank Vogel said AD is going to go through additional testings later tonight and will have an update tomorrow
— Ali B (@ali_behpoornia) January 8, 2020
Anthony Davis is having additional testing tonight, including an MRI. For now, Lakers are going with bruised tailbone.
— Bill Oram (@billoram) January 8, 2020
Dave McMenamin of ESPN reported that Davis is expected to miss the next two games, at least:
Anthony Davis was able to walk in the player tunnel at Staples Center as the initial shock of the fall wore off, a source tells ESPN. The plan is for Davis to undergo an MRI on Wednesday. He is expected to miss the upcoming road trip in DAL & OKC to stay back and rehab.
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) January 8, 2020
However, a later update from Shams Charania of the Athletic provided more info, and said that Davis will actually travel with the team:
After scary fall Tuesday night in Los Angeles, Davis underwent MRI that showed lower back injury is a bruise, league sources said. Positive news for Davis and the Lakers. https://t.co/314ZPDurwQ
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 8, 2020
Davis told Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports that he expects to miss time, but that he’ll be “fine” in the long run:
Anthony Davis was escorted out of the arena laying on the bed of a motor carrier. “I’m fine,” he told Yahoo Sports while acknowledging he’ll miss some time.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) January 8, 2020
The Lakers will not practice on Wednesday.
Davis sustained the injury while trying to block Randle’s shot. He was called for a foul as Randle hit him in the air, knocking Davis off balance as he fell to the ground. Davis was down on the floor grabbing his lower back as concerned teammates and the training staff looked on, and had to be helped up before (gingerly) walking off under his own power.
AD heads to locker room after scary fall on back.
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 8, 2020
Hope he's ok pic.twitter.com/TZgQGuQKnd
AD walked on his own to the locker room pic.twitter.com/88l5cJUPRL
— Ali B (@ali_behpoornia) January 8, 2020
Soon after the injury occurred, Davis’ agent, Rich Paul, told reporters that X-Rays on Davis were negative, but that he’s “sore.” Lauren Jones of the L.A. Sentinel — who has been first on several reports of injuries to Davis before — provided a few more details:
Can confirm @taniaganguli's report Anthony Davis underwent an X-Ray and MRI on his tailbone that was negative. He got the wind knocked out of him according to a source close to the team.
— Lauren A. Jones (@LoJoMedia) January 8, 2020
It should be noted that the play did not appear to feature any ill intent from Randle — a former Laker and who was also teammates with Davis on the New Orleans Pelicans — who by the looks of things was just bulling his way to the basket and did not intend Davis to cause Davis to land awkwardly in what was a freak outcome.
It is unknown exactly how many games Davis will ultimately miss, if any, but our own Dr. Rajpal Brar had some info on what the standard timeline for this injury in others usually is.
Per @LakersReporter, AD has a sacral contusion. Typically takes around 2 weeks to get back to 100% but playing is a matter of managing the soreness and discomfort.
— Dr. Rajpal Brar, DPT (@3cbPerformance) January 8, 2020
Davis has already been getting listed with a sore shoulder on the injury report of late, and has also dealt with ankle and rib injuries this season. Given how huge Davis is to their championship hopes, they should approach this as cautiously as possible.
This is a developing story that will be updated with more information as it becomes available. For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts. You can follow Harrison on Twitter at @hmfaigen.