Anthony Davis cleared to play; Christian Wood gets 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 in my eye,” Davis said, his eye still looking red and cloudy after practice Tuesday. “But as far as the medical term and all that, I’m not 100% sure. But I’ve been cleared to play.”

He visited an eye doctor Monday as a “precaution,” sources told ESPN, after being poked in the eye by Toronto center Jakob Poeltl 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 tested goggles during practice Tuesday — “He looked great,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said — but the All-Star big man doesn’t plan to wear them against Memphis.

Davis said he tried goggles before, during the 2020 NBA bubble while recovering from an eye injury, but abandoned them after “20 seconds of play.”

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

“I had glasses for three years when I was younger,” Davis said, alluding to his bespectacled high school look. “I just don’t want to (now), to be honest. Obviously, the doctors said I didn’t need it… If it gets to the point where my eye doctor tells me to wear them, then Of course I want to, but I’ve been allowed 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. game this season.

While LA will welcome Davis back against Memphis, it continues to wait for backup big man Christian Wood to return.

Wood, who underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in September after missing the final two months of last season with an injury to the same knee, experienced soreness during his ramp-up process.

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