The Los Angeles Lakers will be without star Anthony Davis against the Oklahoma City Thunder due to left knee soreness, the NBA franchise announced.
Davis, who woke up with a sore knee, was ruled out of the line-up approaching tip-off in Oklahoma City on Friday.
The NBA champion had 22 points and eight rebounds in Thursday’s 108-95 defeat to the Memphis Grizzlies as the Lakers fell to 13-13 for the season.
Davis is averaging 24.0 points, 10.2 rebounds – his best since the 2018-19 season, and 3.0 assists per game in 2021-22.
The 28-year-old has been shooting 52.3 per cent from the field, his best mark since the 2017-18 campaign. Meanwhile, Davis is just 19.2 per cent from three-point range – not since 2014-15 has he fared worse from beyond the arc.
The Lakers have a 13-13 record this season after also being 2-2, 3-3, 5-5, 8-8, 9-9, 10-10, 11- 11 and 12-12. The nine times at .500 this season (excluding 0-0) are the most of any NBA team, per Stats Perform.
Oklahoma City have beaten the Lakers in both meetings this season, overcoming a 19-plus point deficit in each. In the last 39 games in which the Thunder have fallen behind by at least 19 points, they are 2-0 against the Lakers and 0-37 against everyone else.