Anthony Davis only needed about 36 hours to get himself ratio’d.
The Los Angeles Lakers star Davis sat out of Tuesday’s game against the Atlanta Hawks due to bilateral Achilles tendinopathy and left hip soreness. At the time, it appeared to be a precautionary move as the Lakers were on the second end of a back-to-back set (Davis played Monday in a loss to the Houston Rockets).
After the Atlanta game, Davis was asked if he would play in Thursday’s marquee matchup against the Boston Celtics.
“Oh, hell yeah,” replied Davis emphatically, per Brad Turner of the Los Angeles Times.
Unfortunately though, the survey said that was a lie.
About five hours before tip-off on Thursday, the Lakers ruled out both Davis and star teammate LeBron James for the game against the Celtics.
Los Angeles Lakers say Anthony Davis (bilateral Achilles tendinopathy & left hip spasm) and LeBron James (left ankle peroneal tendinopathy) are out tonight against the Boston Celtics.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) February 1, 2024
The Lakers, playing their third game in four nights, would have had a hard time beating the league-best Celtics in Boston anyway, and there is no need to unnecessarily risk their star players at the beginning of February. The oft-injured Davis, meanwhile, deserves some credit since he has actually been pretty durable this season. He has played in 46 of 49 games so far for the Lakers and is averaging 35.9 minutes per game in those contests.
But Davis was so adamant about playing against Boston, yet did not even make it to warmups before being ruled out. The health of their stars is not the only problem plaguing the 24-25 Lakers right now either.
