Explaining Anthony Davis’ heel contusion & likely Game 6 status

Anthony Davis originally suffered a right heel contusion in the Western Conference Finals against the Denver Nuggets, and he’s been on the injury report with it since then. Last night, Davis re-aggravated the injury in the Lakers’ Game 5 loss to the Miami Heat in the NBA Finals.

The injury initially appeared to be much more serious than it turned out to be, with Davis writing on the floor in pain, grabbing at his heel and initially struggling to get up or even limp to the bench. But after moving around on the bench a bit, Davis was able to get back out on the floor and play the rest of the game, finishing the night with 28 points, 12 rebounds, 3 steals and 3 blocks. He explained what happened after the game.

“Iggy (Andre Iguodala) just re-aggravated it. I went out the end of the first, and it just kind of just wore off and got back to normal. Just kept moving around,” Davis said. “Trying not to sit down, to get that adrenaline going, and I was able to keep going and keep playing.”

The fact that Davis was able to do so, and how long he’s been dealing with his injury already are reasons why our own Dr. Rajpal Brar — who has a doctorate in physical therapy from Northern Arizona University and analyzes the Lakers from a medical perspective for Silver Screen and Roll — feels that Davis will likely be good to go in Game 6.

He broke down why in the video below:

Davis did look a bit hampered by the injury down the stretch, so his status is certainly worth keeping an eye on, but at least it does seem like this is not something to panic about just yet.

With the Lakers’ capable training staff on the case and Davis’ own reputation for nearly always bouncing back and playing through injuries — even if they look horrible in the moment — it’s probably safe to assume he’ll be ready to go when Game 6 tips off on Sunday.

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, and Dr. Brar at @3cbPerformance.