Lakers’ Anthony Davis hampered by hip spasms in loss to Heat

MIAMI — Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis experienced spasms in his left hip, according to the team, which forced the team to prematurely exit Monday night’s 108-107 loss to the Miami Heat.

After the game, however, the Los Angeles big man said he was “very optimistic” about a quick return to the lineup.

Davis said he tweaked his adductor while attempting a spin move against Miami’s Jaime Jaquez Jr. late in the second quarter. He remained in the game for several possessions, favoring the injury, before exiting with 2:17 left in the first half with LA trailing 54-52.

Davis warmed up after halftime and started the second half, but the Lakers had to call a timeout to replace Davis out of the game with 10:01 left in the quarter.

Davis came out of the locker room a few minutes later and returned but was mostly ineffective. The Lakers were outscored by 10 points in the eight minutes Davis played in the third quarter.

With less than two minutes left in the third, Davis appeared to tweak his injury again and yelled “F—!” before being replaced.

The Lakers, who are 0-2 on their current road trip and 0-4 on the season away from Crypto.com Arena, will play at Houston on Wednesday, a game Davis expects to be ready for .

“Everything will be fine,” Davis said. “I’ll be ready to go on Wednesday, that’s for sure.”

Davis – who started Monday’s game averaging 38.8 minutes this season, second-most minutes in the league – finished with 9 points on 4-of-7 shooting, 6 rebounds and 4 assists in 25 minutes against the Heat.

Davis dismissed the heavy minutes as a factor, attributing the injury to “just clumsy play.” He plans to seek treatment overnight in Miami before the team flies to Houston on Tuesday.

Even though Davis’ status gave the Lakers reason to exhale, there was still plenty of consternation during postgame press conferences in Los Angeles about how the game had played out throughout. the sequence.

D’Angelo Russell appeared to be whistled for a technical foul and then immediately ejected with 7:52 remaining in Game 4, but the Heat were awarded two technical free throws, which crew chief James Williams explained to a pool reporter after the match.

“D’Angelo Russell received his first unsportsmanlike technical foul for an obvious gesture in reaction to a non-call involving a potential ball,” Williams said. “This earned him his first unsportsmanlike technical foul. After his first unsportsmanlike technical foul, D’Angelo Russell then received his second unsportsmanlike technical foul for disrespectfully addressing a game official with vulgarity, and according to the rule , his second unsportsmanlike technical foul resulted in his ejection from the game.”

Lakers coach Darvin Ham was also penalized for a technical foul late in the third quarter for arguing a non-call when LeBron James appeared to have been hit in the face by Thomas Bryant on an attempt dunk.

“I’ve been in this league a long time, man. You got a team leader, [he is] supposed, along with his counterparts, to keep the game under control. And all I want is sometimes an explanation,” Ham said. “We just want balance and consistency, that’s all. I see Bron shoot four free throws. And the number of times he attacked the rim, the number of times he got hit on the arm, which I could see clear as day, for it not to be called, man…he’s not not a flop. I watch him go to the hole in force.”

James said the culmination of technical fouls — including one given to Los Angeles when he was whistled for a delay of game penalty with 3:50 left in the fourth for rolling the ball toward the sideline after being whistled for a foul on Jimmy Butler. – were costly in a match which ended in one point.

“I go up to them respectfully and tell them what’s going on in games and I routinely go to the line three or four times a game. Sometimes not even at all, which is weird,” James said. “So I just have to keep driving, keep putting pressure on the rim and see if it spins. But we had some tough breaks tonight, for sure. And it’s not in our favor this evening.”