lakers involved with a critical handicap vs warriors drama

The Los Angeles Lakers’ biggest advantage against the Golden State Warriors — Anthony Davis — was compromised as soon as Trayce Jackson-Davis’ elbow connected with AD’s left eye socket at the 2:47 mark of the first quarter.

Davis winced through a few possessions before heading to the locker room. He never re-emerged and was ruled out with an “eye contusion” shortly after the second half began.

Golden State prevailed at Crypto.com Arena, 128-121. The loss dropped the Lakers to 36-32 — percentage points behind the Warriors (35-31) for the No. 9 seed in the West. The Warriors ensured at least a tie in the season series.

“He got an elbow to his left eye,” said Darvin Ham postgame. “Wasn’t able to see. Vision blurred. Looking at the doctors, they were working on him from the time he left the floor … through halftime. The biggest thing is making sure he’s okay. And we’ll get an update on him pretty soon.”

The Lakers were down by six when AD exited. Already down Christian Wood, the Lakers rolled with Jaxson Hayes at center. Hayes had seven points and grabbed a season-high 12 rebounds in 28 minutes — both Ham and D’Angelo Russell credited how Hayes “played his a– off” — but the Lakers were outscored by 13 sans AD.

“It shifts everything,” Ham said about the Davis injury. “When you lose one of your main pieces, it’s gonna change the rotation. It eliminates size. They’re a smaller team at the rim, so it takes another seven-footer out of the game, for us.”

Ham did not have a prognosis on Davis for Monday’s home matchup with the Atlanta Hawks. (ESPN reported that his availability will be determined on Sunday.)

“You lose a key component to our team in one quarter,” said LeBron James, who admirably attempted to carry the load with 40 points on 15-of-23 shooting. “You try to pick it up, but, obviously, there’s things we can’t do without AD.”

Davis had eight points on 3-of-6 shooting, four rebounds, two assists, a block, and a steal in the first 12 minutes. The Warriors outrebounded the Lakers by six and were +8 in the paint. LeBron said the Lakers missed the two-way “threat” of Davis, especially “versus a team that has multiple threats.”

The Warriors shot 52.6% from the field, led by Stephen Curry (31 points), Klay Thompson (26 points) and Jonathan Kuminga (23 points).

“It just hurts the balance of our team,” said LeBron. “It’s tough when you have a big component to the puzzle, and then you don’t have it.”