This holiday season brought joy to families but has only brought injuries to the NBA. First Kristaps Porzingis, then Luka Doncic and now Anthony Davis. He had been upgraded from questionable to available for the Christmas showdown against the Warriors. Since November 6, Davis has been a fixture in the lineup, playing every game. Over his last 21 outings, he’s put up impressive numbers—24.6 points, 11.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 2.3 blocks, and 1.2 steals in 35.1 minutes per game.

But he rolled his ankle in the first quarter and was seen heading to the locker room. Early in the game, Davis went down after missing a shot for the Lakers. As he tried to track the ball, he seemed to misstep with his left foot and hit the floor hard. He managed to get back up but moved slowly, clearly favoring the injured foot.

In just seven minutes on the floor, he struggled, missing all three of his field goal attempts but grabbing two rebounds and a steal. He has been officially ruled out of the game to return. Gabe Vincent started in place of AD in the second half. He’s still in the locker room as halftime winds down, with just about 3 minutes left on the clock reports Dave McMenamin of ESPN.

It’s pretty surprising that Davis has only missed one game this season, especially given his injury history. But when it comes to facing the Warriors, he’s usually at his best. Against Golden State, Davis averages 23.6 points, 12.7 rebounds, and 3.1 assists.

Meanwhile the Lakers are struggling to find some consistency this season. They don’t seem better than last season where they made the playoffs but were eliminated in the first round. Their defense has problems.

Anthony Davis knows what the Lakers are doing wrong

The Lakers’ recent loss to the Detroit Pistons highlighted an issue that’s been creeping up lately—turnovers. Despite ranking 8th in the NBA for turnovers per game and turnover percentage this season, they were careless with the ball against Detroit, committing 20 turnovers that led to 29 Pistons points.

Davis, usually a reliable figure in limiting turnovers, owned up to the mistakes after the game. “We were just loose with the ball,” he said. “I had I think four, and we were trying to make the right play. They do a good job of creating turnovers, and it’s hard to win a game with 20. We just gotta be better with the basketball, everybody. That’s kind of what the difference in the game was. When we were in the halfcourt, we were pretty good defensively. But the turnovers were a big part of why they won.” he further added.

Davis also acknowledged that other teams will take note of how Detroit took advantage and look to replicate it. “Teams are going to watch film and look at this game,” he said. “The gameplan coming into the game is to be physical, and we will not turn the ball over. We just got to be physical with the basketball.”

While physicality played a big part in the loss, Davis emphasized that it needs to happen on both ends of the floor. Detroit’s 60 points in the paint and 24 fast-break points were a direct result of the Lakers’ sloppy ball-handling. With L.A. only losing by three, a few fewer turnovers might’ve easily flipped the script.

Let’s see if they minimize their turnovers against the Warriors.

Latest update on Anthony Davis’ injury

After spraining his left ankle, Davis is walking without any assistance, according to sources speaking with ESPN report Dave McMenamin. The Lakers are taking it day-by-day, and Davis will be reevaluated before their game against Sacramento on December 28. There’s hope he could return for that one, but it’s all up in the air for now. Lakers fans are holding their breath, praying for good news. Keep those fingers crossed!