Los Angeles Lakers head coach Darvin Ham has confirmed that their star player Anthony Davis is not going to play against Houston Rockets on Wednesday. Davis played an instrumental role in Tuesday night’s win against New Orleans Pelicans.
Davis scored 35 points and 17 rebounds to help his team win the crucial contest. However, Ham revealed that Davis is playing with an active injury and they don’t want to take any risk of playing him on back-to-back nights.
“He’s not going to play,” Ham said after Davis put up 35 points and 17 rebounds against his former team. “He hasn’t been cleared. Even though he’s been playing pain-free, we made an organizational decision, starting with our team doctors, to hold him out of back-to-backs.”
Davis was reevaluated by Lakers medical personnel about two weeks ago and it is crucial for the team to manage his workload.
“It’s just one of those things where even though he’s playing pain-free, it’s still an active injury,” Ham said. “So we have to monitor it and stick to the plan, as we always have done. And just go out there with our other guys and try to get a W and finish the trip the right way.”
In fact, the Lakers were leading by a huge margin of 75-40 at halftime against the Pelicans and Ham admitted that the thought of resting Davis in the second half did cross his mind.
“It definitely was a thought, but obviously, that’s a hell of a ballclub over there that has a lot of pride and they made their push,” Ham said. “So having to reinsert him into the game kind of nixed any delusions of grandeur.”
Davis, who has been troubled by injuries in the last few seasons, admitted it is tough to sit out as he wants to keep playing.
“I mean, it’s tough,” Davis said. “Especially because each game, obviously, you want to go out and play. But before I even came back, it’s something the doctors and the organization discussed that they thought it would be best for me not to play back-to-backs … It’s still a stress reaction. And we’re doing all the right things to make sure that I’m ready to go and I still need that day break. Obviously, it sucks.”
The Lakers will face Houston Rockets on Wednesday night.
