LOS ANGELES (AP) — Anthony Davis went to the Lakers’ locker room midway through the third quarter Sunday night after getting hit in the face while blocking a dunk attempt by Toronto’s Jakob Poeltl.
The nine-time All-Star was ruled out for the rest of the night with an eye injury. The Lakers trailed by three when Poeltl inadvertently poked Davis in the eye with his off hand, but Los Angeles surged to a 123-103 victory in the star big man’s absence.
“I just know that he got poked in (his left eye),” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “He was having trouble seeing. Obviously, take a little trauma to the eye, and it takes a little bit of time to get your clear vision back. But other than that, no update.”
Davis got hurt while making a sensational block of Poeltl’s dunk attempt in the lane with 5:16 left in the third quarter. While the Lakers’ home crowd roared, Davis went down in obvious pain, rocking back and forth on the ground with his hands on his face. He stayed down for about a minute before walking to the Lakers’ dressing room.
LeBron James took charge in Davis’ absence, recording his 115th triple-double while Los Angeles finished the final 17 minutes on a 53-30 run. James finished with 19 points, a season-high 16 assists and 10 rebounds.
“AD is a big-time rebounder, so I had to pick up some of the slack with the defensive rebounding,” James said. “And then with AD out, I’m taking a lot of eyes (that would be on) AD, because he’s putting so much pressure on defenses this season. I take some of that responsibility as well. Something I’ve been able to do for quite a while, so it’s not hard for me to be able to tap into that, even though that’s not been my role this year so far.”
Davis incurred a corneal abrasion in the same eye last March during a game against Golden State. He didn’t miss a game with that painful injury, returning two days later.
Davis is off to an outstanding start to the season, sparking early MVP talk. He began the night leading the NBA in scoring at 32.4 points per game, along with 11.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists, and he has six 30-point games already this season.
Davis had 22 points, four rebounds and two blocks before getting hurt against the Raptors.
Jaxson Hayes took Davis’ spot in the Lakers’ rotation and quickly contributed three dunks and a layup while the Lakers pulled ahead. Hayes, the only other player taller than 6-foot-9 on the Lakers’ roster, finished with 12 points and six rebounds.
“It requires more from everyone else,” Redick said. “Jaxson stepped up to that moment, played both ends of the court and gave us a few extra possessions. Just his energy, I thought, really uplifted the group.”
Davis missed last Wednesday’s game in Memphis with a bruised left heel. The big man has a long history of injury problems, but he played in a career-high 76 games last season.
The Lakers’ next game is Wednesday night at home, also against the Grizzlies.
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