He’s extremely valuable: Lakers coach Darvin Ham after Anthony Davis suffers an eye injury

The Lakers’ head coach Darvin Ham said that Anthony Davis is extremely valuable for them after their 127-117 loss against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday night. Davis aggravated his left eye injury and was ruled out of the second half.

The Lakers’ big man was unknowingly hit in the face by Wolves forward Kyle Anderson late in the first quarter. Davis went back to the dressing room but did not return to the court.

“He’s extremely valuable,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said of Davis. “Everyone around here knows that. Everything he brings on both sides of the ball, it’s tough. Already being without Bron and seeing him go out, it’s tough. But my hat’s off to our guys. They didn’t feel sorry for themselves. They kept competing all the way through.”

Meanwhile, Davis suffered a corneal abrasion to his left eye during the Lakers’ 128-121 loss against the Golden State Warriors on March 16. The talisman was struck in the eye by Warriors forward Trayce Jackson-Davis in the first quarter.

“I just couldn’t see,” Davis later explained. “The corneal abrasion was actually right in the middle of my eye. It wasn’t like off to the side. So anytime I looked it was blurry. My eye was swollen. I thought my eye was like, [torn] open. But it wasn’t. It kept watering. It just felt like sand was in my eye.”

Meanwhile, Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell wants the team to finish the regular season on a high. The Lakers have won nine out of their last 11 matches.

“I think we just finish this season strong, finish these games strong and whoever we match up with, we go full force,” Russell said. “I don’t think we care about the teams that are doing well versus how they’re going to look in the playoffs. It’s experience versus inexperience in the playoffs, that kind of gets you over the hump. So I like our chances versus anybody.”

The Lakers will next take on the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night.