Anthony Davis stood at the end of the Lakers’ introduction line dressed in black, a smile on his face as he watched his teammates go through their pregame routine, unable to play because of a stress injury in his right foot the team said will leave him out indefinitely.
The Lakers said before they played the Charlotte Hornets at Crypto.com Arena that Davis received extensive consultation with the team’s physicians and outside specialists to determine his injury.
Then late in the fourth quarter, the player who started in place of Davis, Thomas Bryant, injured his right shoulder and had to be helped to the locker room with three minutes, 16 seconds left of the Lakers’ eventual 134-130 loss to the Hornets.
With Davis missing his fourth consecutive game — and counting — the Lakers will once again turn to LeBron James to make up for his considerable absence.
It helped that Russell Westbrook, who missed the last two games with left ankle soreness, and Austin Reaves, who missed the last two games with a sprained right ankle, were both back.
But even with James producing 34 points and eight rebounds, it wasn’t enough to prevent the Lakers from losing their third straight game.
They had one last shot after James had been called for goaltending a Gordon Hayward offensive rebound with 6.0 seconds left that gave the Hornets a 132-130 lead.
When the Lakers got the ball back, the Hornets double-teamed James, who lost his shoe and fell just after he passed the ball to Dennis Schroder in the corner. But Schroder missed the three-point attempt, dooming the Lakers to a loss.
Reaves had 20 points and Westbrook 17 points, seven assists and five rebounds.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
