LOS ANGELES — Anthony Davis had an early exit from the Lakers’ Saturday game against the Golden State Warriors because of an eye contusion.
Davis went back to the Lakers’ locker room in between the first and second quarters after getting hit in the left eye by Trayce Jackson-Davis on a layup with 2:47 left in the first at Crypto.com Arena.
The All-Star big man didn’t get back on defense on the ensuing Warriors’ possession, resulting in a Klay Thompson 3-pointer that trimmed the Lakers’ lead to 29-25.
Davis stayed in the game until the final three seconds of the quarter, subbing out alongside Jaxson Hayes as part of an offensive-defensive substitution at the end of the quarter before heading back to the locker room in between quarters.
The Lakers had a 36-30 lead going into the second before getting outscored 37-30 during a quarter Davis didn’t play at all, leading to a 67-66 deficit at halftime.
Davis was officially ruled out early in the third quarter, finishing with eight points, four rebounds and two assists in 12 first-quarter minutes.
Backup big man Jaxson Hayes started the second half in place of Davis.
Davis has only missed four games this season, entering Saturday having played the sixth-most minutes (2,263) in the league.
SENSE OF URGENCY
Speaking pregame ahead of the marquee matchup, coach Darvin Ham said he feels the sense of urgency from his team entering a critical stretch of games.
The Lakers entered Saturday just one game ahead of the Warriors for the No. 9 spot in the Western Conference standings, but also 2½ games behind the Phoenix Suns for the No. 7 seed.
“I don’t want our guys to get weighed down by the circumstances that we’re playing under,” coach Darvin Ham said. “Being a ninth seed or 10th seed, with the fear of dropping games or whatever. I need them to be in a good mental space and know that we can control our own destiny.
“So, it gets heavy in terms of it’s not so much a lack of urgency as it is a…
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