Anthony Davis acknowledges lingering shoulder pain: 'Never a play I don't feel it'
The Los Angeles Lakers fell back to reality Sunday night with a loss against the Toronto Raptors that snapped a seven-game winning streak.
Part of that reality now includes an injury to one of their two superstars.
Anthony Davis exited the game in the third quarter after grabbing his shoulder, but coach Frank Vogel told the media he was fine after the game. He did return later in the contest.
Vogel said AD’s shoulder has been fine. Acknowledged the play in the third quarter when he winced and grabbed his shoulder, but said the medical team didn’t think he needed to come out.
— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) November 11, 2019
Davis went into more depth with reporters, assuring them he was fine but there may be lingering effects that could come into play as the season progresses. Via Bill Oram at The Athletic:
Anthony Davis on his lingering shoulder issue: "There’s really never a play I don’t feel it. But I’m going to go out there and play, I try not to let it affect my game. I just play through it and then worry about taking care of it after the game."
— Bill Oram (@billoram) November 11, 2019
Davis jammed his right shoulder on a missed dunk attempt two weeks ago and aggravated it Sunday night on a block against the Raptors’ Pascal Siakam. He had four in total, along with 27 points, eight rebounds, three assists and two steals.
The 26-year-old was seen with a heating pad on the shoulder while on the bench. Treatment also consists of a compression T-shirt under his jersey, ESPN reported.
The Lakers (7-2) are tied with the Denver Nuggets for first in the Western Conference after rattling off seven wins between the opening night loss to the Los Angeles Clippers and Sunday’s loss to the defending NBA champions.
Davis, an early MVP candidate, is averaging a double-double of 26.6 points and 10.2 rebounds in 35 minutes per game. His average of 3.1 blocks per game is a league high. LeBron James is averaging 24.6 points and 11 assists in 35.1 minutes. They’ve looked solid together in the early parts of the season.
Neither has missed a game so far, though the Lakers’ schedule has been kind. They’ve yet to play a back-to-back until this week, when they’ll face the Suns in Phoenix on Tuesday and return home to host the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday.
If the shoulder is bothering Davis at all, it might be worth it to limit his minutes against the struggling Warriors. And no, that’s not load management.
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