Is Anthony Davis playing? Full Lakers vs. Blazers injury report determined

On New Year’s Eve, the Los Angeles Lakers fell short to the Cleveland Cavaliers, 122-110.

This was despite the excellent performances of point guard Austin Reaves, who recorded 35 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds, and center Anthony Davis, who scored 28 points, 13 rebounds and four assists.

Now, the question remains whether Davis will be able to perform in Thursday’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers. The answer? Maybe.

According to the NBA’s official injury report, Davis is sidelined with a sprained left ankle. He is currently up to date with the injury.

Davis is easily the Lakers’ best player right now, averaging 26.1 points, 11.6 total rebounds, 3.5 assists, two blocks and 1.3 steals per game. This kept him in the MVP conversation for a while, although he has since been ignored by Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics.

While it would be difficult to lose Davis, it’s not like Los Angeles doesn’t have players who can pick up the slack. There’s the aforementioned Reaves and LeBron James, one of the best to ever play the game.

If Davis was going to take time off to rest his ankle, this would be the perfect combination to do so. The Trail Blazers are not the most threatening team, currently holding a record of 11-21. Meanwhile, Los Angeles has much tougher matchups in the near future with the Atlanta Hawks, Houston Rockets and Dallas Mavericks.

There is a strong chance that the Lakers can have success against Portland without Davis. However, it will be much more difficult to defeat these other teams without one of the best players in the NBA. In the end, it seems like this may be the best time to give Davis a rest.

Unfortunately, Davis isn’t the only player who could be missing from the Lakers’ roster come January 2nd. Point guard Gabe Vincent is also listed as doubtful with a left oblique strain. So far this season, Vincent has averaged 4.3 points, 1.3 total rebounds, 0.9 assists and 0.8 steals per game.

In addition, three players have been classified as out. Christian Wood is recovering from left knee surgery, Jarred Vanderbilt is recovering from right foot surgery and Jalen Hood-Schifino is out with a left hamstring strain.

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