Lakers’ Anthony Davis forced out vs. Warriors with eye injury

LOS ANGELES — Anthony Davis left the Los Angeles Lakers‘ game against the Golden State Warriors after the first quarter Saturday night with a left eye contusion, the team announced.

Davis was hurt after he was inadvertently hit in the face by Warriors forward Trayce Jackson-Davis while scoring on a layup. He continued to play for the next few minutes but eventually left the game and did not return.

Davis’ vision was impaired and his eye was swollen shut after the contact, a source familiar with the injury told ESPN. He will be monitored overnight and Sunday to determine his availability Monday against the Atlanta Hawks.

Davis left the arena without speaking to reporters.

“When you’ve been preparing for a couple of days with our prep and you lose a key component to your team in one quarter, we tried to pick it up, but, obviously, there’s some things we can’t do without AD,” LeBron James said after the game.

L.A. outscored Golden State by six in the 12 minutes Davis played, with the Lakers’ All-Star big man posting 8 points on 3-for-6 shooting, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 block.

While Davis had to exit early, he has been plenty durable this season. Saturday marked his 65th appearance in the 69 games L.A. has played, including the in-season championship win over the Indiana Pacers.

Backup big man Jaxson Hayes replaced Davis and finished with seven points and a season-high 12 rebounds in 28 minutes.

“We’re not accustomed to playing without [Davis],” Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell said. “He’s played almost every game this year, right? So that’s something that is unfamiliar for us. But it’s no excuse. Jaxson played his ass off. Everybody else that came in stepped up to the plate. But that’s a tough team, well-coached team. So it’s not going to be easy.”

The Warriors (35-31) won 128-121 to inch ahead of the Lakers (36-32) by a percentage point — .530 to .529 — for ninth in the Western Conference standings.

First appeared on www.espn.com

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