The Los Angeles Lakers will be waiting longer than expected to get Anthony Davis back.
Davis was expected to return this week after missing the past month with Achilles tendinosis and a calf strain. The Lakers released a statement on Friday saying Davis will be re-evaluated in two weeks, and head coach Frank Vogel and admitted that the team needs to be patient after a 105-100 win over the Indiana Pacers.
“We anticipated it’s going to be a little bit of a build-up once we got back [from the All-Star break],” Vogel said in his postgame news conference. “We’ll be patient. We’ll continue to compete and win games. And we’ll all be very excited when we finally get [Davis] back.”
Davis will now miss L.A.’s next eight games, including big matchups against the Phoenix Suns and the Philadelphia 76ers. The Lakers have gone 4-6 without Davis and could continue to fall in the standings before he eventually returns.
Before suffering his leg injuries, Davis was averaging 22.5 points, 8.4 rebounds and three assists per game while shooting 53.3% from the field and 29.3% from deep.
