OKLAHOMA CITY — Anthony Davis will not play against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday because of the right foot stress injury that already caused him to miss a chunk of the season, the Los Angeles Lakers announced.
Already depleted thanks to a right foot injury for LeBron James and a right ankle sprain for D’Angelo Russell, L.A. (29-33) will look to rebuild momentum against the Thunder (28-33) after a 121-109 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies on Tuesday.
Davis missed 20 straight games because of his right foot from mid December until late January. The Lakers have only played one back-to-back since Davis’ return prior to this Grizzlies-Thunder set, and Davis also sat out one of those two games so he would not overwork his foot.
However, coming out of the All-Star break with the Lakers’ team goal to qualify for the playoffs as the No. 6 seed or higher, Lakers coach Darvin Ham made it sound like he would have his players on the floor for the three remaining back-to-backs on L.A.’s schedule.
“We’ll manage how we need to manage on non-gamedays,” Ham said. “But I expect everybody to be suited up.”
The Thunder are also playing the second night of a back-to-back on Wednesday, coming off a 123-117 loss to the Sacramento Kings — their fourth straight defeat.
“We got a must win tomorrow, we believe, in this locker room,” Lakers point guard Dennis Schroder said after the loss to Memphis. “So we just got to get to OKC and try to win.”
