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Los Angeles Lakers stars LeBron James and D'Angelo Russell pointed to Anthony Davis' eye injury as a contributing factor behind Saturday's 128-121 loss to the Golden State Warriors.
Davis played just 12 minutes after getting inadvertently hit in the eye by Warriors forward Trayce Jackson-Davis.
"When you've been preparing for a couple of days with our prep and you lose a key component to your team in one quarter, we tried to pick it up, but, obviously, there's some things we can't do without AD," James told reporters of Davis' absence.
Russell concurred, saying L.A. is "not accustomed to playing without" the nine-time All-Star.
"He's played almost every game this year, right? So that's something that is unfamiliar for us," he said. "But it's no excuse. Jaxson played his ass off. Everybody else that came in stepped up to the plate. But that's a tough team, well-coached team. So it's not going to be easy."
ESPN's Dave McMenamin reported Davis' left eye was swollen shut and his status for Monday's matchup with the Atlanta Hawks is unclear.
It's true the 6'10" forward has stayed healthy this year. He has appeared in all but four of the Lakers' 68 games while averaging a team-high 35.6 minutes per contest.
Injuries have been a consistent theme across Davis' Los Angeles tenure and his career more broadly, though. His 64 games are already his most played since his 2019 trade to L.A.
Saying the Lakers are "unfamiliar" with a Davis-less lineup is true in a sense, and having a player get hit in the eye is a freak accident you can't plan for. However, durability continues to be a lingering concern with the 31-year-old.
If nothing else, Saturday's defeat reinforced how dependent Los Angeles is on its two best players, Davis and James. With the team already in 10th place, losing either at the wrong time could be a fatal blow to the franchise's hope of simply qualifying for the playoffs.
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