Anthony Davis was forced to exit the Los Angeles Lakers’ matchup vs. the Minnesota Timberwolves after taking a hit to his left eye in the first quarter. AD headed to the Crypto.com Arena tunnel before the second quarter and was ruled out shortly after halftime.

The Timberwolves outscored the depleted Lakers — also playing without LeBron James (flu-like symptoms) — 46-27 in the second period.

Davis had four points, four rebounds, three assists, and two steals in 12 minutes.

Davis was treated in the locker room for the same left eye injury that forced him out of the Lakers’ March 18 loss to the Golden State Warriors, according to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. That night, Davis’ eye was swollen shut by halftime. The injury was labeled a “left eye abrasion.”

AD was able to play two days later — dropping 22 points on 10-for-14 shooting and grabbing 14 rebounds against the Atlanta Hawks — though he had to visit the eye doctor beforehand. (If you’re wondering, Davis said he was opposed to wearing goggles because of a negative experience in high school.)

“Just couldn’t see. The corneal abrasion was actually right in the middle of my eye,” he described after the March 20 Hawks game. “It wasn’t like off to the side. So anytime I looked, it was blurry. My eye was swollen. I thought my eye was open but it wasn’t. Just kept watering. It felt like sand was in my eye. So it was just better closed.

“It got better later that night. Swelling went down. Just kind of stayed in darkness. And then went to go see the doctor on Sunday morning. And some more things that we need to find out. But yeah, it was just really tough for me to see.”

The Lakers next play on Tuesday, at home against Golden State.

The Lakers (45-33) entered Sunday as winners of nine of their past 10 games.

Davis had been listed as probable on the Lakers’ injury report with the left knee hyperextension he suffered on March 26 at the Milwaukee Bucks.

In addition to LeBron, Gabe Vincent sat out with knee recovery. Jarred Vanderbilt and Christian Wood are still out, which left Darvin Ham with only Jaxson Hayes, Rui Hachimura and two-way players Harry Giles III and Colin Castleton as the center options against Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid.

(Offensively, Hayes more than held his own, dunking his way to 18 points by the end of the third quarter.)

In 35.8 minutes per game this season, Davis is averaging 24.7 points (55.5% shooting), 12.8 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.4 blocks, and 1.2 steals. He’s appeared in 73 of the Lakers’ 79 games in 2023-24.

The Lakers (45-33) began the day tied with the Sacramento Kings for the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference. The New Orleans Pelicans (46-32) and Phoenix Suns are one game up, while Golden State (43-35) sits 2.0 games behind Los Angeles.

The Lakers finish the season at the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday and the Pelicans on Sunday, April 14.

This post will be updated with more information.