This season has been full of ups and downs for the Los Angeles Lakers, but they have been managing well enough to stay ahead of the .500 mark with a 26-19 record – good for the fifth seed in the Western Conference, but it seems that they will have to endure better in the coming week with Anthony Davis expected to sit out with an abdominal strain.

Davis just played a total of 10 minutes in the Lakers’ 118-104 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. The star had to walk off the court all the way to the locker room while his right hand was grasping his stomach as he left the game with 2:10 to go in the first quarter. Davis would not go on to return the game for good.

The Lakers are slated to play at least three games, with two on the road. They will have to make up without Davis guiding the way for the Los Angeles squad as they will need to stay afloat in the highly competitive Western Conference now more than ever. Hope is, that Davis will get to return to the lineup immediately and keep their winning pace alive.

Life Without Davis

So far, life without Anthony Davis hasn’t been that bad for the Lakers, having a 2-1 record in that regard. The Lakers have won the last two games without AD, a 114-106 win over the Portland Trail Blazers, and then a close 102-101 win against the Brooklyn Nets last January 16th. That is a good look, until you consider a deep analysis.

The lone loss was a 131-114 win for the Memphis Grizzlies, who also grabbed 50 rebounds to the Lakers’ 37. Memphis also dominated the paint 60-44 and big men such as Santi Aldama and Jaren Jackson Jr. dominated the paint scene. The replacement for Davis? Jaxson Hayes just had eight points and 10 rebounds and was -13 with a total of five fouls as well.

It is worth noting that Davis is leading the Lakers in points (25.7 per game) and rebounds (11.9 rebounds). LeBron James scored 31 points for the Lakers in that loss, and he even moved ahead of Hall of Famer Mo Cheeks on the sixth place of the NBA’s career steals, and is now 135 steals away from passing Hall of Famer Gary Payton (2,445) for the No. 5 spot.

On an all-time basis, the Lakers have a whopping 265-431 record without Davis, which is not actually an ideal number to consider with the Lakers trying to come up with a promising push in its games.

Schedule for the Lakers

LA already won its first game without Davis for this week, but the schedule doesn't get lighter for the next two games. The Lakers will then visit the New York Knicks, who are gunning for a strong rally of their own in the Eastern Conference after beating the Denver Nuggets yesterday. The Lakers will then roll to the Intuit Dome for a rivalry road game against the Los Angeles Clippers on February 4th as part of the NBA’s Rivals Week.

The Lakers have won six of its last eight games so far, which includes a promising domination of the Wizards (111-88), Boston Celtics (117-97), and the Golden State Warriors (118-108). All of those wins came with Davis leading the charge, which says a lot about the impact that the big man will have should he be on the floor in those next three games.