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Update: Tuesday, April 25 — A day after beating the Grizzlies in Game 4, the Los Angeles Lakers are not even listing Anthony Davis’ hip on their official injury report for Game 5. The team is once again listing Davis as probable with his ongoing “right foot stress injury,” but did not even put his hip on the report.
Additionally, head coach Darvin Ham told reporters that Davis was “ready to go” for Game 5:
Darvin Ham said that he expects Anthony Davis to play through his hip injury in Game 5 on a conference call with reporters today. Davis received treatment last night and today.
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) April 25, 2023
“I’m not worried about him,” Ham said. “He’ll be ready to go. He assured me of that.”
Original story from Monday night follows.
While the Lakers came away victorious in Monday’s Game 4 battle against the Grizzlies, the physical nature of the contest had a lasting impact. Anthony Davis, in particular, took quite the beating from Memphis with his right hip being an area of concern on multiple occasions.
Davis saw out the game and made a number of big plays on both ends of the court down the stretch. After the game, head coach Darvin Ham noted that the injury is one he’s hurting from but not one that will sideline him moving forward.
“He’s hanging in there man,” Ham said. “He’s definitely hurting but it’s not something that’s going to keep him out. We just have to manage it the best we can and it’s constant round-the-clock treatment.”
In his postgame presser, Davis acknowledged that it wasn’t a new injury, but one that was re-aggravated on Monday. He also reiterated it wasn’t an injury that would cause him to miss time.
“I just wanted to play,” Davis said. “It’s been bothering me for probably like a week-and-a-half. But there was no way I was coming out. Just trying to give what I could to the team. I’ll be fine, though. We do what we’re supposed to do Wednesday, then I get a couple days to let it calm down and get back to normal. But take care of it tonight, tomorrow and get ready for Wednesday’s game.”
Despite a poor offensive showing, Davis still came up big when he was needed, blocking Ja Morant’s potential game-winner to end regulation and coming up with a pair of baskets in the extra session. His impact on the defensive end doesn’t show up in the box score but was felt on the court, and he still grabbed 11 rebounds.
Behind LeBron and AD, the Lakers closed out the game and moved ahead 3-1 in the series. It’s a common trend for the Lakers to win with their superstar pair on the floor together.
The Lakers are now 21-8 in the playoffs when LeBron and AD both start.
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) April 25, 2023
The challenge now for LeBron and AD is to get right on a quick turnaround. The remainder of the series will see games played every other day. On one hand, it’ll help the Lakers get into a rhythm, but it’s going to test them physically.
If they can pass that one, they could be set to finish off this series in style.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude.
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