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Los Angeles Lakers coach Darvin Ham revealed that Anthony Davis left the game unable to see after he got poked in the eye.
“I think he got an elbow to the left eye. Wasn’t able to see out of that left eye, vision blurred,” Ham told reporters after the Lakers’ 128-121 loss to the Golden State Warriors on Saturday, March 16, at Crypto.com Arena. “Looking at the doctors, they were working on him from the time he left the floor and went back to the training room through halftime. The biggest thing is just making sure he’s OK and we’ll get an update on him pretty soon.”
Davis played all but the final three seconds of the first quarter. The All-Star big man finished his short stint with 8 points, 4 rebounds 2 assists and 1 block.
Anthony Davis’ Absence Takes Toll on Lakers
The Lakers outscored the Warriors inside the paint (14-4) in the first quarter. After Davis went out with the eye injury, the Warriors flipped the script.
Golden State took advantage of Davis’ absence in the next three quarters. The Warriors won the rebounding 45-39 and held a 62-54 edge in the points inside the paint.
His co-captain LeBron James rued his early departure.
“When you’ve been preparing for a couple of days and you lose a key component to your team in one quarter, we tried to pick it up, but obviously, there some things we can’t do without AD,” James told reporters about Davis leaving the game early.
James tried to carry the Lakers but his 40-point effort went down the drain with a costly turnover down the stretch.
“We’re not accustomed to playing without [Davis],” Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell told reporters. “He’s played almost every game this year, right? So that’s something that is unfamiliar for us. 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.”
LeBron James Disagrees with Refs
James disagreed with crew chief David Guthrie’s explanation of why they overruled his 3-pointer that could have cut the Warriors lead to 124-120 with 1:50 left.
“James’ left foot is out of bounds as he begins to shoot,” Guthrie said in the pool report. “Yes, it is reviewable at that time. The rule is Rule 13, Section II(f)(3): Whether the shooter committed a boundary line violation, the replay center official will only look at the position of the player’s feet at the moment they touch the floor immediately prior to the release of the shot. This can be applied during other replay triggers as well.”
Instead of the Lakers getting the chance to close the gap further, the Warriors extended the lead to nine 126-117 after James turned the ball over when the play resumed during the long pause due to the video replay and shot clock malfunction.
“I didn’t believe I stepped in the line,” James told reporters. “Obviously, I knew how much space I had over there and when I shoot, I shoot on my tippy toe. So it’s kind of hard for me to have a heel down. Probably after I shoot, I was gonna land. But it is what it is.”
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