-
Dave McMenamin, ESPN Staff Writer
LOS ANGELES — Lakers star big man Anthony Davis did not enter the concussion protocol and is expected to play in Game 6 against the Golden State Warriors on Friday, coach Darvin Ham said.
“He’s feeling great,” Ham told reporters on a video conference call on Thursday. “Our medical staff gave us a great update.”
Ham added that Davis is “not showing any signs of anything” after he was inadvertently struck in the side of the head by Golden State’s Kevon Looney in the fourth quarter of the Warriors’ 121-106 Game 5 win. Davis exited the game with more than seven minutes remaining and did not return.
Davis was placed in a wheelchair and carted to a training room after feeling “woozy,” a source told ESPN on Wednesday night. Davis, however, was able to leave the arena at the end of the night walking to the team bus without any assistance.
While the Lakers are officially listing him as probable, a source close to Davis told ESPN on Thursday that there is “no scenario” he can envision where Davis will miss Game 6 and added: “It’s the playoffs.”
There was no mention of a concussion after an initial evaluation of Davis, a source close to the Lakers center told ESPN.
Davis had been effective up to that point, totaling 23 points on 10-for-18 shooting with nine rebounds and three assists. It was his third game scoring 20 points or more after putting up only 11 points in L.A.’s Game 2 loss in Golden State.
Davis is averaging 22.4 points on 58.1% shooting, 13.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 2.2 blocks and 1.4 steals in the series.
“It’s huge,” Ham said when asked if he felt any relief learning about Davis’ status update. “He’s the centerpiece of what we’re trying to do on both sides of the ball and for us just in general for our success rate. So that was great, great news.”
Beyond Davis’ expected inclusion, Ham was asked if he could adjust his lineup any further to match the scoring punch that the Warriors possess.
“These type of situations you throw a lot of stuff up against the wall, see what sticks,” Ham said. “But we’re not shooting in the dark here.”
The Lakers coaching staff watched the film of Game 5 together on Thursday afternoon while the team was given the day off from practice. Ham said that while the temptation to tweak the lineup is there, he recognizes his team has already won three games with the same group of starters, and the solution to win the series could very well be to just play better with those players.
“We’ll sleep on some things, some suggestions and some ideas that we have and then wake up in the morning ready to make a final decision,” Ham said.
The Lakers lead the Western Conference semifinal series 3-2 and host Game 6 on Friday night in Los Angeles.