By Jiordan Tellidis & Harry Wallace
Anthony Davis reaggravated a preexisting eye injury during the Los Angeles Lakers’ 127-111 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday.
Davis was inadvertently hit in the face by Wolves forward Kyle Anderson late in the first quarter while scoring on an offensive rebound. He was evaluated in the locker room and did not return to the game.
The injury left the Lakers shorthanded against the Wolves, with LeBron James already sitting out with flu-like symptoms.
Davis had previously suffered a corneal abrasion to his left eye during the Lakers’ 128-121 loss to the Golden State Warriors on March 16.
“I just couldn’t see,” Davis said of the injury, per ESPN. “The corneal abrasion was actually right in the middle of my eye. It wasn’t like off to the side. So anytime I looked it was blurry. My eye was swollen. I thought my eye was like, [torn] open. But it wasn’t. It kept watering. It just felt like sand was in my eye.”
Having briefly risen above the Sacramento Kings and into the eighth seed, the Lakers are now back in ninth place following Sunday’s loss. They sit half a game behind the Kings.
The Lakers have just three games remaining on their regular season schedule: the Warriors at home on Tuesday, the Grizzlies on the road on Friday, and the Pelicans on the road on Sunday.
LA has already clinched a spot in the play-in. They are one and a half games away from the sixth-seeded Phoenix Suns, and finishing sixth would allow the Lakers to avoid the play-in and head straight to the playoffs.
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