In what seemed to be an unintentional contact by Golden State’s Kevon Looney midway through the fourth quarter of the Warriors’ 121-106 Game 5 victory in the Western Conference semifinals on Wednesday night, Lakers centre Anthony Davis suffered a head injury.
With 7:43 left, Davis grimaced and grasped at his head on the bench before leaving for the locker room. He and Looney were squabbling over position in the paint as D’Angelo Russell of the Lakers drove for a layup.
Davis’ condition for Game 6 on Friday night in Los Angeles is unknown, but coach Darivn Ham seemed upbeat thereafter without going into detail about the evaluation process the big man underwent while in the locker room, including as concussion testing. According to TNT, Davis needed a wheelchair to access the changing area.
Another encouraging indicator was Davis leaving Chase Centre by himself.
Everyone knew he had been wounded in the head, but Ham remarked, “We just checked on him, and he seems to be doing really well already.” “That’s simply where he is. That’s where it stands at the moment.
In the best-of-seven series, the Lakers are up 3-2.
The final tally for Davis was 23 points on 10-for-18 shooting, nine rebounds, three assists, but no shot blocks.
Davis’ teammate Austin Reaves noted that he was “better” but added that Los Angeles would be prepared with or without him.
“AD is obviously important to what we do. I think he’ll play, but if not, we still have NBA basketball players who have competed this season without him,” Reaves said. “A huge game is never something you want to play without a player like that. But that’s how the game is designed.
The Warriors, led by Stephen Curry, absolutely anticipate seeing AD on Friday night.
Curry admitted, “I have no idea what happened to him or what his circumstance is, but I would say sure.
