After an awesome five-game stretch during which he played nothing short of sustained dominant basketball, Anthony Davis sat out the Los Angeles Lakers’ Saturday contest at the San Antonio Spurs.
His team was able to win without him, 143-138, but it was clear his teammates were missing his presence defensively and on the boards.
Davis was held out due to a calf contusion he sustained the previous evening, but he is expected to return to action on Monday when the Lakers will host the Indiana Pacers.
According to head coach Darvin Ham, the team simply didn’t want to take any unnecessary risks with its superstar big man.
Via ESPN:
“Just it being a back-to-back, the load he was carrying, specifically with [LeBron James] out, it’s just the smart and right thing to do,” Ham said of the decision to rest Davis. “We don’t want to push him this early in the season. And when you’re talking about different muscles and ligaments, it’s something that can easily turn into a year-long issue. So just to avoid that, we don’t want to put any additional strain on the area.
“The medical people decided it was the right thing to do and I totally agree.”
Los Angeles will certainly need Davis on Monday, as the 11-7 Pacers feature Myles Turner, a 6-foot-11, 250-pound center who is averaging 18.9 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.8 blocked shots a game this year.
Of course, Turner has been incessantly linked to the Lakers via numerous trade rumors over the last several months.
