The New Orleans Pelicans have been dealt another blow in an already difficult season.
The team today announced that it will be without five-time All-Star Anthony Davis for up to two weeks as he suffered a left index finger sprain in a 128-112 loss to Portland. In the loss, Davis finished with 27 points, seven rebounds and two assists in 36 minutes.
Injury Update: Anthony Davis sustained a left index finger sprain in last night’s game. Davis is expected to be out approximately 1-2 weeks #Pelicans pic.twitter.com/ag8yCgwCDL
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) January 19, 2019
With the loss, the Pelicans fell to 21-25 on the season and now sit four games out of the West's No. 8 seed. After winning 48 games in 2017-18, the first half of the 2018-19 season has been marred by injuries – key players Elfrid Payton (31 games) and Nikola Mirotic (16 games) have missed a combined 47 games.
Davis, who is putting forth MVP-calibre numbers of 29.3 points, 13.3 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.7 steals per game, could potentially miss the team's next seven games should he be out for two weeks.
MVP Rankings: Davis among several worthy candidates
The seven-game span begins in Memphis and also includes a meeting with the Thunder, two meetings with the Spurs well as games against the Rockets and Nuggets.
Without their MVP, the Pelicans will need contributions from across the board in order to stay afloat to make a playoff push in the second half of the season.