Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis will be reevaluated in two to three weeks after suffering a calf strain on Sunday and is unlikely to return to the roster before the NBA All-Star Break, March 5-10, sources said. ESPN.
Davis missed two games last week with right Achilles tendonosis and had to abandon Sunday’s loss to the Denver Nuggets just before the break after exacerbating the injury.
An MRI scan on Monday revealed a distended calf and a worsening of the tendonosis in the right Achilles tendon, a source told ESPN, but did not show a rupture of the right Achilles tendon.
In a statement, the Lakers said Davis will be eliminated on Tuesday against the Timberwolves and will be evaluated by team doctors in Los Angeles.
The Lakers and Davis will be conservative about the timing of their return to the game. Even before the MRI, general manager Rob Pelinka, Davis and agent Rich Paul discussed Davis’ return to the team, sources told ESPN.
Davis suffered an injury late in the second quarter of Sunday’s game while driving over Nikola Jokic and colliding with the Nuggets penalty. Jokic’s right knee made contact with Davis’s right quadriceps. When Davis recovered his dribble after the foul was called and stuck his foot in, he seemed to aggravate his right leg.
Davis stayed in the game to make two free throws, doing both, then checked out with 2:36 in the second half and hobbled out into the locker room with Lakers assistant sports trainer Jon Ishop at his side.
The nine-year-old veteran has been experiencing discomfort in his right leg for weeks and had an ultrasound last weekend, which confirmed the injury.
Davis was left out for two games against the Oklahoma City Thunder and returned to Friday’s 115-105 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies, against whom he scored 35 points from 16 of 27 shots – two in his record of the season. He was adamant about not running back too soon, although he acknowledged that he was in pain at the end of the Memphis game.
Davis scored 15 points in 14 minutes with four rebounds and an assist before leaving Sunday’s game.
Dave McMenamin of ESPN contributed to this report.