Getty Lakers star Anthony Davis
Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis suffered a scary right arm injury in the second quarter against the Memphis Grizzlies on April 16. The All-Star said he couldn’t move his arm and was taken back to the locker room.
Fortunately for the Lakers, Davis played in the second half, helping his team beat the Grizzlies by a final score of 128-112. AD finished with 22 points, 12 rebounds and seven blocks in 36 minutes while shooting 10-of-17 from the field.
After the game, Davis talked about his injury.
“Jaren Jackson kind of came down on my shoulder,” Davis said. “I didn’t see the play, so I’m not sure if he came down or just hit it whatever, but had a little stinger where my arm went completely numb. It was weak. Couldn’t like lift it up or hold it up myself. Couldn’t move it and just went to the back early. Went to the back and just did some strength things. Trying to get the feeling back and I was good to go.”
Lakers fans were terrified after Davis went back to the locker room. The Chicago native has dealt with numerous injuries since helping the purple and gold win the 2020 championship over the Miami Heat at the Walt Disney World bubble. It was a huge sigh of relief for everyone when Davis started the second half.
Desmond Bane on Anthony Davis: ‘He’s Obviously a Great Defensive Player’
Davis’ stat line of 22 points, 12 rebounds, seven blocks and three steals in Game 1 put him next to Hall of Famer Tim Duncan. Davis became the first player since Duncan nearly 20 years ago to put up that type of postseason stat line.
“I think ball movement is going to have to be at a premium,” Grizzlies guard Desmond Bane said after the Game 1 loss. “Share the rock and make the simple play. He’s (Davis) obviously a great defensive player and has been for a long time in this league, but I mean, I think that we’re going to be just fine.”
The Grizzlies lost Game 1 of their first-round series to the Minnesota Timberwolves last year and wound up winning the series in six games. However, the Lakers — led by Davis and LeBron James — are more dangerous than the Timberwolves.
LeBron James Praises Austin Reaves
Austin Reaves, who finished with 23 points while shooting 8-of-13 from the floor and 3-of-5 from beyond the arc in Game 1, received high praise from James postgame.
“We trust him with the ball in his hands early in the game and late in the game,” James said. “So we got something going in the fourth quarter, and after every stop or if we didn’t get a stop or whatever, I think Jaren Jackson went on like a 5-0 run by himself when we went up seven, we went back to AR and just put the ball in his hands, he was able to hit a pull-up two, able to hit a three when they kind of had a soft switch and then hit another pull-up two to put us up eight. So he closed the game for us offensively.”
Reaves averaged 13.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 3.4 assists during the regular season. He becomes a restricted free agent this summer.
“Well it’s not surprising to me,” James said about Reaves’ strong play. “I knew from the first practice that we had when we grabbed him that it wasn’t gonna be long, he wasn’t gonna be a two-way player for long. … I’ve been around the game long enough to know great basketball IQ players and I know the type of players that fit with my game and I knew Austin would be that right away.”