Anthony Davis cleared to play; Christian Wood suffers a setback

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Anthony Davis said he is cleared to play in the Los Angeles Lakers’ next game against the Memphis Grizzlies after leaving Sunday’s win over the Toronto Raptors early with a left eye injury.

“A couple of scratches on my eye,” Davis said, his eye still red and cloudy, after Tuesday’s practice. “But as far as the medical term and all that, I’m not 100% sure. But I’m cleared to play.”

He visited an ophthalmologist on Monday as a “precautionary” measure, sources told ESPN, after Toronto center Jakob Poeltl poked him in the eye midway through the third quarter.

It was the second left eye injury Davis has suffered since the spring: He was diagnosed with a corneal abrasion in March.

Davis tried out goggles during Tuesday’s practice – “It looked great,” Lakers coach JJ Redick joked – but the All-Star big man doesn’t plan to wear them against Memphis.

Davis said he tried the glasses before, during the 2020 NBA bubble, when he was recovering from an eye injury, but abandoned them after “20 seconds of a game.”

For Davis, it’s simply a matter of preference.

“I wore glasses for three years when I was younger,” Davis said, alluding to her bespectacled high school look. “I just don’t want to 1731526035to be honest. Obviously the doctors said it wasn’t necessary. …If it gets to the point where my eye doctor tells me I need to use them, then of course I will. “But they have authorized me to go out and play without them.”

Davis is averaging 31.2 points on 57.7% shooting, 10.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 2.0 blocks and 1.3 steals per game this season.

While Los Angeles will welcome Davis back against Memphis, it continues to await the return of backup big man Christian Wood.

Wood, who underwent an arthroscopic surgical procedure on his left knee in September after missing the final two months of last season with an injury to the same knee, experienced pain during his preparation process.

“We’re going to cut him down,” Redick said of Wood on Tuesday. “We’ll have an update in about four weeks.”