Anthony Davis' foot injury adds to the Lakers' problems in the loss in Detroit

DETROIT – WhatWhat does it mean for the Los Angeles Lakers if Anthony Davis is sidelined with a foot injury?

LeBron James, sitting in front of his locker after another disheartening Lakers loss, balked at the question about the game.

“I don't play the 'if' game,” James said. “We’ll go by what AD says and see how he feels over the next few days and go from there. But you don't have to be a rocket scientist to know (the implications of) whether AD is in or out. Come on.”

The biggest concern in the Lakers' 115-103 loss to the Detroit Pistons on Monday at Little Caesars Arena was that their 25th-ranked defense was rattled by the Pistons' perimeter scorers. But then with 4:46 to play, Davis injured his left foot after trying to intercept a pass from James before scoring inside.

Twenty seconds later, the Lakers called a timeout and Davis collapsed to the ground in pain. He needed D'Angelo Russell and his trainer Jon Ishop to help him get back on his feet. Davis carefully walked to the basket support and stretched before hobbling toward the group. He played the rest of the game, including an alley-oop lay-in, but grimaced and limped the rest of the game. He finished the game with 37 points and nine rebounds in 39 minutes.

The loss dropped the Lakers to 4-3 overall and 1-3 on their five-game road trip. Now Los Angeles could be without its best player in Memphis on Wednesday — and possibly longer.

“I don’t know,” Davis said when asked if he would miss time. “I mean, I'm going to talk to my coach and find out exactly what's going on. Honestly, I've been doing it since this summer and my goal is to be on the floor for every game. And I ended up right in the spot that killed me. So we’ll find out.”

The impact of Davis' potential absence is obvious: The Lakers' front line would be decimated. Their already porous defenses would become even worse. And their sixth-ranked offense would take a step back after losing the league's leading scorer and its most-capped player.

Los Angeles has few bodies: Jaxson Hayes is currently the only available backup center. (The NBA has reopened an investigation into Hayes' 2021 domestic violence incident after a recent video surfaced by TMZ. Hayes said Monday: “My team and I are working to cooperate with the league on all of this. I I have no other comments on this at the moment.”)

Christian Wood is out for the season after undergoing knee surgery. Two-way star Christian Koloko is with the South Bay Lakers in the G League, training his conditioning after being cleared by the NBA return-to-play program. Jarred Vanderbilt, who isn't a center but is at least another top frontcourt defender, is due for at least another week after undergoing double foot surgeries last offseason.

Two-way star Armel Traoré could be called upon to fill a backup center role. Or the Lakers could do what they have done in the past and use James and/or Rui Hachimura at backup center in small-ball lineups. Neither option is ideal.

Of course, Davis hasn't been ruled out (at least not yet). But even if he's fine and able to play in the road trip finale in Memphis, the Lakers have defensive issues that he hasn't been able to fix yet.

Los Angeles is reeling after a 3-0 start. The Lakers have lost three of four games and have been heavily outplayed for long periods of each game, including by scores of 141-108 in the second half of their win over the Toronto Raptors and in the first half of their loss to the Pistons.

“We’re all disappointed,” coach JJ Redick said.

Before every game, Redick has an important point that he emphasizes with his group for the upcoming matchup.

For several straight games, the coaching staff's focus has been on the transition defense, which ranked 30th entering Monday and has been a driving force behind the defensive rating in the final six.

But given the way the Lakers defended for most of the loss, they're not likely to climb out of the bottom four defensive rankings any time soon.

At times, the Lakers and Pistons seemed to play different sports. The Pistons were faster and more athletic, and that combination proved problematic for a Lakers team that is at a relative disadvantage in those categories compared to most opponents.

Detroit scored 12 of its 14 fast-break points in the first half and took a commanding 67-53 lead into the break. However, the Lakers countered defensively in the second half, holding the Pistons to 48 points and just two fast break points while getting within six points a couple of times. However, it was too little, too late. After being run off the floor in Cleveland last Wednesday, they were unable to play in the first half.

Another first-half disappointment and a road trip gone awry have, among other things, led Davis to question what team the Lakers really are.

“We’re just two different teams right now,” Davis said. “In one game we showed that we can be one of the better teams in the league. And the next thing you know, we're this team that – I don't even know who we are. So we just have to get better. …

“We need to put together a full 48 (minutes) and we can’t keep doing that if we expect to accomplish anything this season.”

The problem for the Lakers as they try to regroup this week is that they have played their best this season with Davis dominating the interior on both ends of the court. If he misses time, they're in trouble.

(Photo: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)