LOS ANGELES — The Lakers couldn’t quietly head into the All-Star break. No chance. Not in this massively unpredictable season.
They lost Anthony Davis to a sprained right ankle but didn’t drop Wednesday’s game thanks to a wild fourth-quarter comeback in a 106-101 victory over the Utah Jazz.
LeBron James scored 15 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter and Austin Reaves made another big late-game shot to help push the Lakers to victory at Crypto.com Arena.
After the Lakers capped a 24-9 run in the final six minutes, James went over and hugged LA Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald, who watched the game from a courtside seat on the same day as the Rams’ championship parade a few miles away.
If only the news of the day ended there for the Lakers.
Lakers forward Anthony Davis crumpled to the court after landing on Utah center Rudy Gobert’s foot while trying to corral a lob from Malik Monk with three minutes left in the second quarter.
Davis immediately grabbed his ankle and rolled around in obvious pain. He stayed down for several minutes until teammates Dwight Howard and DeAndre Jordan helped him off the court. He couldn’t put any weight on the ankle as the trio slowly moved toward the Lakers’ locker room.
X-rays were negative, though an MRI exam will take place Thursday to determine the severity of the sprain. The Lakers’ next game isn’t until Feb. 25, giving Davis nine days of rest, though a timetable for his return wasn’t clear.
“It’s very deflating to see A.D. go down the way he did,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said, adding that he talked to Davis at halftime before the Lakers’ big man left the arena.
Davis was “just shaking his head about, really, everything,” Vogel said. “Looking like he’s gonna miss some time again.”
Davis has struggled with injuries the last two years. He missed half of last season primarily because of calf and Achilles’ heel soreness, and sat out 21 games this season mainly because of a sprained knee.
“Obviously, it was sickening to see A.D. go down in that fashion,” James said. “I just wish him the best…”
Davis, who turns 29 next month, missed only nine games when the Lakers won the NBA championship two seasons ago, a noteworthy stat for the oft-injured big man that definitely helped the Lakers claim their 17th title.
Davis recently endured a bizarre two-game trend in which he was almost invisible down the stretch, combining for three points in the fourth quarter against Portland and Golden State. He looked spry in the first half against Utah, scoring 17 points on seven-for-nine shooting against Gobert, considered one of the game’s premier big men.
Gobert was called for a foul on the play in which Davis was injured, though there was nothing dirty or intentional about the play.
Davis’ injury looked ugly, a metaphor that could almost descrive the Lakers’ season heading into the All-Star break. They are currently in ninth place in the Western Conference and four games below .500, a stunning spot for them at this point in the season.
But James extended his streak to 23 consecutive games with 25 or more points. Only one other Lakers player ever experienced such a run — Elgin Baylor with 24 consecutive games in 1961.
The Lakers trailed by only five when Davis was hurt and somehow stayed close after he left.
James followed up a three-pointer with a dunk to put the Lakers ahead, 96-94, with 2:08 to play. Then he drilled another three-pointer to put the Lakers up, 99-96.
“What we saw LeBron do is just remarkable,” Vogel said.
James wasn’t alone in his late–game heroics. Rookie Austin Reaves calmly drained a three-pointer with 17.4 seconds left and the shot clock winding down for a 103-99 lead. It’s one of a growing number of clutch plays he’s made this season.
“Credit our guys for really hanging in there and continuing to fight,” Vogel said.
The work doesn’t get easier for the Lakers (27-31) from here. They have the second-hardest schedule the rest of the way and come back from the break with an important five games — two against the Clippers, who are a spot above them in the standings, and one each against Golden State, New Orleans and Dallas.
The Lakers couldn’t stop Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell on Wednesday and almost lost because of it. He scored 26 points in the first half and finished with 37.
However, the Lakers won. Now they await medical news, as they have for so much of the rest of their season.