Anthony Davis will be sidelined tonight with a sprained left ankle for New Orleans' crucial matchup with the Phoenix Suns, who sit just two and a half games behind the Pelicans for the Western Conference's final playoff spot.
The 22-year-old All-Star rolled his ankle during drills Thursday morning, preparing for the team's shoot around.
"It's just an unfortunate incident," head coach Monty Williams said. "He just rolled it. We had our typical shootaround drills. He might have stepped on Omer's foot or leg, and his ankle just rolled."
The Pelicans have done the drill Davis injured himself on every day for the past two months.
Last time the Pelicans played the Suns, on Dec. 30, Davis had a season high 18 rebounds and 19 points.
New Orleans' starting lineup will now likely include both Dante Cunningham and Quincy Pondexter, with Alexis Ajinca and Luke Babbitt expected to get more minutes off the bench.
"Any time you lose AD, you don't try to fill his shoes, because they're too big to fill," Williams said. "We need a great team win tonight. We know we can do it - we've done it before."
With so much at stake, New Orleans needs Davis to have a quick recovery. The Pelicans next travel to Golden State for the end of this back-to-back challenge Friday night. The team has a day off Saturday before taking on the Clippers in LA for a Sunday matinee game.
However, Williams isn't offering any timeline for Davis' recovery or return.
"It's too soon to tell," Williams said.
