NBA: Anthony Davis exits with eye injury in Lakers loss to Wolves

Anthony Davis aggravated a left eye injury and was ruled out of the second half.

of the Los Angeles Lakers’ 127-117 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Sunday.

Davis was inadvertently hit in the face by Wolves forward Kyle Anderson late.

in the first quarter when scoring off an offensive rebound.

Davis immediately went to the floor after the play and covered his face with his.

hands.

The putback dunk gave L.

A.

a 35-30 lead with 24.

2 seconds remaining in the first.

Davis went to the locker room for evaluation and did not return.

He left the arena without speaking to reporters.

There is optimism that Davis will be able to return to the lineup.

Tuesday, a source familiar with the situation told ESPN.

Without Davis, the Wolves outscored the Lakers — who also were without LeBron.

James (flu-like symptoms) — 46-27 in the second quarter.

“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.

”

The Lakers big man was struck in the eye by Warriors forward Trayce.

Jackson-Davis in the first quarter and similarly had to exit the game early.

The injury required Davis to seek medical attention from a specialist after his.

vision was temporarily impaired and his eyelid was swollen shut, sources told ESPN.

“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.

”

With Sunday’s loss, L.

A.

dropped from the No.

8 seed in the Western Conference to the ninth, half a game behind the Sacramento.

Kings.