LOS ANGELES — Lakers forward Anthony Davis left Sunday night’s 123-103 win over the Toronto Raptors because of a left eye injury.
Davis went to the locker room midway through the third quarter after getting hit in the face while blocking a dunk attempt by Toronto center Jakob Poeltl.
Davis made a one-handed block of Poeltl’s dunk attempt in the lane, but Poeltl’s off hand hit Davis in the face and eyes.
While the Lakers’ home crowd roared, Davis went down in obvious pain, rocking back and forth on the ground with his hands on his face. He stayed down for about a minute before getting up and walking to the Lakers’ dressing room.
Sources told ESPN’s Dave McMenamin that Davis experienced swelling as a result of the contact, making it difficult to keep his left eye open. Davis will have the eye examined by an ophthalmologist Monday as a “precautionary” measure, sources said.
Davis suffered a corneal abrasion to the same eye in March.
He left the arena without speaking to reporters Sunday.
“I just know that he got poked in it,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said of Davis’ eye injury. “He was having trouble seeing. Obviously taking a little bit of trauma to the eye, it takes a little bit of time to get your clear vision back. But other than that, no update.”
Jaxson Hayes took Davis’ spot in the Lakers’ rotation and quickly contributed three dunks and a layup while the Lakers pulled ahead.
“I thought Jaxson was amazing tonight,” Lakers guard Austin Reaves said after Hayes finished with 12 points and 6 rebounds. “Especially that third quarter on, I thought that he played probably one of his best games since he’s been here. Being active defensively, being a scorer in the pocket, rebounder. I thought he did a lot of really good things.”
Davis is off to an outstanding start to the season, sparking early MVP talk for the nine-time All-Star. He had 22 points, 4 rebounds and 2 blocks before getting hurt against the Raptors.
Davis began the night leading the NBA in scoring at 32.4 points per game, along with 11.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists. He has six 30-point games already this season.
Davis missed Wednesday’s game in Memphis with a bruised left heel. The big man has a long history of injury problems, but he played in a career-high 76 games last season.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
