ad.png
USA Today Sports

Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis went to the locker room during the third quarter of Sunday night's 123-103 win over the Toronto Raptors after getting struck in the face while blocking a dunk attempt by Toronto center Jakob Poeltl. Davis stayed on the floor for several minutes before eventually making his way back to the locker room and was later ruled out for the rest of the game with a left eye injury.

It's a shame that Davis was injured on the play, because it was absolutely an early Block of the Year nominee. Just over halfway through the third, Raptors forward RJ Barrett picked the ball up out of a scramble and found the 7-foot Poeltl in the middle of the paint. The path looked clear for a dunk, but Davis came flying in from out of bounds to soundly reject the attempt, slamming the ball to the floor. As Poeltl went up, however, he struck Davis in the eye with his left hand.

Davis already came into Sunday's game with a probable designation due to a nagging battle with plantar fasciitis that dates back to the end of last season. Now he'll have to recover from Sunday's blow to the eye as well, which puts into question his status for Wednesday's NBA Cup game against the Memphis Grizzlies -- and maybe more.

Davis has been the Lakers' best player this season, and also arguably the NBA's best player, so he means as much to his team as any superstar in the league. He entered Sunday night averaging an NBA-best 32.4 points to go along with 11 rebounds, three assists and two blocks on 57% shooting. He had 31 points and nine rebounds in 35 minutes before exiting the win over the Raptors. There is certainly no replacement for what he brings on either end, but any absence would likely mean more time for Jaxson Hayes and Christian Koloko in the middle.

After suffering injuries throughout his career, Davis played a career-high 76 games last season for Los Angeles. He's missed one game so far this season, a 17-point Lakers loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.