Davis scored 17 points in 17 minutes before leaving Wednesday's home game with his latest physical setback.
Anthony Davis’ injury woes continued Wednesday against the Jazz as the Lakers star suffered what appeared to be a significant ankle injury late in the second quarter of Wednesday night’s 106-101 win.
Lakers reporter Mike Trudell said initial X-rays were negative, and that Davis will receive treatment over the All-Star break before being re-evaluated when the team reconvenes for the stretch run. Coach Frank Vogel said after the Lakers’ win that Davis would get an MRI on Thursday to assess the severity of the sprain.
ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reports the Lakers’ star big man is expected to be out two weeks because of the injury.
The Lakers’ next game isn’t until Feb. 25 against the LA Clippers.
Davis went up to catch a lob pass and came down on Jazz center Rudy Gobert’s heel with 3 minutes remaining in the first half. Davis was unable to put any weight on his right foot and had to be helped off the court by teammates DeAndre Jordan and Dwight Howard into the locker room.
Davis, who scored 17 points in 17 minutes before he was injured, had only recently returned after missing 17 games with a sprained knee.
“He was shaking his head about everything. He was frustrated because like it looks like he is going to miss some time,” said Vogel, who saw Davis in the locker room during halftime.
Even with Wednesday’s appearance, the eight-time All-Star has missed 57 of the Lakers’ 130 games over the past two seasons.
Davis is averaging 23.1 points and 9.7 rebounds in 37 games. He has been out of the lineup for 21 games, including most of last month due to a knee injury. He was averaging 22.6 points and 9.3 rebounds in the 10 games since his return, including four where he had a double-double.
Wednesday also marked only the sixth time since Dec. 15 that Davis and LeBron James had been in the starting lineup together.
“It was sickening to see AD go down in that fashion. It was an unfortunate play,” James said. “The good thing is he will be better a week from today when we all come back. He’ll be back as soon as he can. Nothing to rush.”
It is another bad break for the Lakers. Despite beating Utah to snap a three-game losing streak, Los Angeles (27-31) goes into the break in ninth place in the Western Conference. The Lakers are six games behind Denver for the sixth seed, which would help them avoid having to participate in the Play-In Tournament for the second straight season.
“We have to win as many games as we can and believe in who we have,” Vogel said. “We have a deep team. Certain guys may be in and out of the rotation but everyone is going to be needed.”
Lakers forward LeBron James said Davis left the arena on crutches.
"Obviously it's sickening to see AD go down in that fashion," James said. "I hope he's fine. Obviously, I mean, I know he's not like, great, but obviously his health is most important for him individually, for our ballclub. I've seen [teammates get injured] too many times, obviously. So I just wish him the best."
L.A. called timeout with 3:00 remaining in the second quarter, and Stanley Johnson subbed in for Davis, who was helped off the court and to the locker room by teammates Dwight Howard and DeAndre Jordan.
Davis experienced significant swelling in the ankle immediately following the injury, sources told ESPN.
Vogel said Davis was dejected when he checked in with him at halftime.
"Just shaking his head about, you know, really everything," Vogel said. "Obviously I'm not sure what it felt like, but just being frustrated about it looking like he's going to miss some time again."
With the All-Star break beginning for L.A. on Thursday, the Lakers don't play another game for nine days, until they host the LA Clippers on Feb. 25.
"The good thing is, he'll be a lot better when we come back than he is tonight," James said. "No matter where he is, he'll be better a week from today. ... So time heals all, and like I said, it's an unfortunate play, an unfortunate event, and he'll get back as soon as he can. But nothing to rush."
Davis, who already missed 17 games straight from late December to late January with a sprained MCL in his left knee, had 17 points on 7-for-9 shooting when he left with the injury, and the Lakers initially struggled with the shock of losing him yet again.
"It's very deflating to see AD go down the way he did, and our guys tried to rally the necessary energy to start the second half," Vogel said. "But there's an energy that you have to overcome."
The Lakers trailed Utah 53-46 at the half after starting the game on an 11-0 run, and they fell down by as many as 14 in the second half before mounting a dramatic comeback midway through the fourth quarter.
James scored 15 of his 33 points in the final frame, extending his career-best streak to 23 straight games scoring 25 or more points. Russell Westbrook added nine of his 17 points in the fourth to close the gap, but it was rookie Austin Reaves' 3-pointer with 17.4 seconds left to push the Lakers' lead from one to four that allowed L.A. to close it out.
"Those guys are some of the greatest players to ever play," Reaves said. "So for them to have the trust in me is special."
L.A. escaped with the win and snapped Utah's six-game winning streak in the process, allowing the Lakers to ruminate on a victory over the long break.
"We stuck with it," Westbrook said. "Stuck with our principles and defended. Did a great job of just having each other's back for the entire game. And it was good to see that from our group."
The Lakers are No. 9 in the Western Conference at 27-31, four games behind the Denver Nuggets, who are No. 6 -- the spot they would have to capture to avoid the play-in tournament. L.A. is four games ahead of the No. 11 New Orleans Pelicans, whom they'll have to stave off to guarantee at least the play-in spot.
"It would have been easy to fold the tent and give in and let go of the rope as Utah was making their run, knowing that we just lost AD," Vogel said. "Hopefully this game will be a lesson of what the big picture looks like for our team: Overcoming this type of adversity."
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