Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis left Wednesday night’s victory against the Golden State Warriors early after he rolled his left ankle in the lane. He was later ruled out, per ESPN’s Shams Charania.
Davis stepped wrong in the lane as he was going up for a rebound at the Chase Center in the first quarter of the Christmas Day matchup, and he rolled his left ankle hard. He didn’t make contact with anybody in the lane, but Davis immediately crashed down to the court grabbing for his ankle. He remained down clearly in a lot of pain as play went the other way.
Davis remained in the game for the next few possessions and tried to play through it, but he was seen limping around quite a bit as he did so. Eventually, at the next timeout, Davis walked off the court and went directly to the locker room.
The Lakers initially said Davis was questionable to return due to his ankle injury, but they ruled him out late in the third quarter. He finished with two rebounds and no points after he shot 0-of-3 from the field. Davis entered Wednesday’s game averaging 26.6 points and 11.8 rebounds per contest.
Anthony Davis to ESPN: “I’ll be OK. I am playing against SAC on Saturday”
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) December 26, 2024
Despite losing Davis, the Lakers jumped ahead in the final minutes of the second quarter and took a 55-52 lead into halftime, eventually winning 115-113. LeBron James became the first player in NBA history to eclipse 500 career points in his 19th Christmas Day game, finishing Wednesday night’s contest with 31 points, 10 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 steals.