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April 1, 2023 | 8:18 am EDT Update
Anthony Davis injury not serious
Jovan Buha: Anthony Davis: “I knew I was going to play regardless. Just that initial tweak — a little bit of pain.” He said he didn’t want to go out afterward and continued to play on adrenaline.
Anthony Davis hobbled through a turned ankle and the Los Angeles Lakers continued their march toward a postseason return with a 123-111 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night. “He kicked our ass in every way possible,” Wolves coach Chris Finch said after Davis scored 17 of his 38 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Lakers to their fifth win in their past six games to go above .500 for the first time all season. Davis twisted his left ankle when he stepped backwards onto Lakers forward Wenyen Gabriel’s foot midway through the third quarter.
Davis didn’t miss a single possession. He checked back into the game after the stop in action and contributed to a 24-2 run by the Lakers that put them into the driver’s seat heading into the fourth quarter. “I knew I was going to play,” Davis said after the game. “Tied the shoes up tighter and just kind off played off adrenaline until the end of the game and was able to get some treatment. But I’ll be fine.”
StatMuse: Anthony Davis tonight: 38 PTS 17 REB 2 BLK 15-26 FG The only player with double-digit 30/15 games this season. pic.twitter.com/K3sCn2705P
Jovan Buha: The Lakers are staying overnight in Minneapolis instead of flying to Houston because of the ongoing blizzard warning. Here’s what the streets currently look like. pic.twitter.com/aSiM8tdNEZ
Damian Lillard on being shut down for the season: 'I wouldn't say it's my decision at all'
Players feel the wrath of fans for load management in the NBA, but more often than not it’s a team’s medical and training staff — driven by analytics and the use of wearable sensors — that sit a player. Guys don’t get to the NBA not wanting to compete. Case in point, Damian Lillard. The Trail Blazers have shut him down for the rest of the season, but he told Dan Patrick on the Dan Patrick Show that it was a team call, not his. “I wouldn’t say it’s my decision at all. I think maybe the team protecting me from myself… Every time that I’ve had some type injury like that kind of get irritated or aggravated or something like that, it’s come from just like a heavy load, and stress, and just, you know, going out there and trying to go above and beyond. So, you know, I would say just; there is something there, and also them just trying to protect me from myself as well.”
Lillard also talked about his loyalty to Portland, which is partly tied to how he wants to win a ring — the way Dirk Nowitzki and Giannis Antetokounmpo did, with the team and city that drafted them. “I just have a way that I want to get things done for myself… I just have my stance on what I want to see happen, but in this business, you just never know.”
