SAN FRANCISCO — D’Angelo Russell zips down with Gary Payton II on his hip. Russell bumped Payton and went up and under Kevon Looney’s contest, driving in a layup with 7:43 left in the fourth quarter of Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors.
As Looney turned for a potential rebound, he accidentally hit Anthony Davis in the temple with his left forearm. Davis immediately grabbed his face and fell down in pain. He stood under the basket for a few seconds before going to the sideline and exiting the game on the next dead ball, at the 7:34 mark.
Davis sat on the bench, holding his head and grimacing. He was evaluated by Lakers athletic trainer Jon Ishop before returning to the locker room for further evaluation at the next timeout. Davis struggled to keep his balance, so the Lakers put him in a wheelchair as a precaution, according to a team source, who was not identified because he was not authorized to speak publicly. Davis did not return to the game or to the bench.
He finally emerged from the visitor’s locker room and walked to the team bus unaided at 10:25 pm PT — nearly an hour after the game.
The Lakers lost Game 5, 121-106, to the defending champion Warriors at the Chase Center on Wednesday night. The details of the game are less important for the Lakers considering Davis’ status, which remains unknown.
Los Angeles maintains a 3-2 series lead. Game 6 is Friday in Los Angeles — about 48 hours after Game 5. The team has yet to issue an official update or reason for Davis leaving the game as of early Thursday morning.
“Obviously, everyone saw he took a shot to the head, but we just checked in on him, he seems to be doing really good already,” said Lakers head coach Darvin Ham. “He’s just there. That’s his status now.”
When asked to provide more details on Davis’ analysis, Ham declined to offer specifics.
“We just finished the game,” Ham said sternly.
James, who said he missed the collision but saw Davis writhing in pain, echoed Ham’s optimism about Davis’ prognosis.
“The medical team said he was doing better,” James said. “That’s the most important thing.”
Austin Reaves added: “I believe he will play.”
NBA concussion protocol states that a player diagnosed with a concussion “shall not return to participation: (1) on the same day or the next calendar day; and (2) before completing the required re-engagement process.” That process includes frequent tracking and a series of higher-effort exercises — “from a stationary bike, to jogging, to agility work, to non-contact team drills” – before a player is cleared.
So, if Davis is diagnosed with a concussion, he won’t be cleared until 24 hours after the initial injury — or late Thursday — at the earliest. Realistically, his availability for Game 6 will be in doubt.
The scene around the Lakers postgame was understandably somber. Davis’ versatility has been evident during the Lakers’ playoff run — and, to a greater extent, most of the past four seasons. This is a constant concern, one of the few things that could undermine the dominance of the James-Davis duo.
Davis suffered a scare in Game 1 of the Memphis series, with a shoulder stinger that left him temporarily unable to lift his arm. But he bounced back in that game and played in 24 consecutive games for the first time since the 2017-18 season. He was struggling with the remains of his right foot, but he was serviceable nonetheless.
The Lakers’ locker room opened about 30 minutes after the buzzer — slightly later than usual. Davis’ parents, agent Rich Paul of Klutch Sports Group and Lakers vice president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka, were seen around and in the locker room. Davis was briefly seen walking from the shower to the training room before he walked out of the locker room. Despite his encouraging message, Ham was more testy than usual in his postgame press conference — even considering the loss to the Lakers — and emphatically crumpled the game’s stat sheet upon leaving the dais.
Davis missing any amount of time, be it Game 6, a potential Game 7, or more, if the Lakers advance in that situation, would clearly be a blow to the turnaround. Davis has been the team’s best player by a clear margin in the postseason. He is the anchor of their playoff-leading defense. He was the key to their defensive success against the Warriors, an elite defensive system in his own right. He’s been a top-five player in these playoffs at worst.
Davis was effective in Game 5 before his injury, scoring 23 points on 10-of-18 shooting and adding nine rebounds and three assists in 32 minutes. His absence will require more from James, such as a Herculean throwback performance. The Lakers will likely play between James and Rui Hachimura, as they can escape the smaller, jump-shot-heavy Warriors. Wenyen Gabriel can also play a bigger role, depending on his first shot. They could dust off Tristan Thompson, who has yet to play rotation minutes.
The alternatives are not good, of course. The Lakers will likely be smaller and will try to win a shootout – a seemingly tall task against a team that features arguably the two best shooters ever.
“I mean, more points than any other team,” Reaves said of the Lakers’ strategy against Golden State if Davis misses time. “Obviously, AD is very important to what we do. … We’re still a group of NBA basketball players that played without him this year. Like I said, you don’t want to play a game, a big game, without a guy like that, but that’s the nature of the game. That’s really it. Get more points.”
The Lakers’ second-round series against the Warriors followed a different script than their first-round series against the Grizzlies.
The Lakers stole home-court advantage and won Game 1 in a close contest on the road. The Grizzlies/Warriors responded with a loss in Game 2. The Lakers blew them out in Game 3. The Lakers then won a tight Game 4, taking a 3-1 series lead. And now, following the Lakers’ double-digit loss in Game 5 to the Warriors, there will be another Game 6 at Crypto.com Arena.
“This series we’re playing is the same as Memphis’ last series as far as game to game, win to win, loss to loss,” Reaves said. “You can look back at that, look and see the energy and the effort that we put out in Game 6 from the beginning.”
It wasn’t a no-show like their 116-99 drubbing in Game 5 in Memphis. The Lakers are within nine points with 5:25 left.
Regardless, James doesn’t believe the Lakers can take much from their previous Game 6 experience against Memphis in their Game 6 matchup with Golden State on Friday.
“This series is different,” James said. “The enemy is different. The challenges are different. Friday is another chance for us to see where we are, to see what we are, and go out there with, I think, the guts and the fight that we’ve had since we’ve been together after the All-Star. rest Very resilient team, and we respond well to adversity.”
At that point, the Warriors weren’t the Grizzlies. Memphis is all bark and bite. The Golden State is both bark and bite.
The Warriors have a storied pedigree and have already made a 3-1 comeback with this core. It happened nearly a decade ago — in the 2016 Western Conference finals against Oklahoma City — but that history still matters. They’re back this postseason, too: They’re the first defending champions to come back from 2-0 down in their first-round series, doing it in seven games against Sacramento. This is not a group the Lakers should want to give life to.
Game 6 is essentially Game 7 for the Lakers. One win and they are second No. 7 seed to make the conference finals in NBA history (joining the 1986-87 Seattle Supersonics). One loss and their season is on the line in a road Game 7 in San Francisco.
The biggest factor in the Lakers’ favor is that they have a legitimate home-court advantage in these playoffs: They are 6-0 at home in the postseason and have won eight straight games there. The Lakers have rarely lost lately: They are 17-6 in their last 23 games. In addition, James has yet to lose a playoff series after taking a 3-1 lead. He famously won one, against these Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals.
But for the resilient Lakers to advance to the conference finals — with or without Davis — they’ll need to summon their best performance against a proven opponent brimming with confidence.
“Those six games are out the window,” James said. “It’s over and done with. Our job is to try to be 1-0 on Friday. I look forward to that opportunity.”
(Top Image: Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
