The Los Angeles Lakers' injury problems continued on Friday night when star big man Anthony Davis suffered an apparent knee injury during the team's loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. 

In the middle of the third quarter, LeBron James passed the ball to Davis, then tried to create some space by pushing off on Jaden McDaniels. LeBron was called for an offensive foul on the play, but the bigger issue was that McDaniels fell right into Davis' leg. 

Davis immediately collapsed and clutched his knee in obvious pain. As he tried to make his way to the locker room under his own power, he then collapsed in the tunnel and had to be helped the rest of the way. 

The Lakers officially announced that Davis had suffered a knee contusion and would undergo further evaluation when the team arrives in Chicago on Saturday. Davis will likely also have his ankle examined. He went to the locker room in the first quarter after rolling his ankle, but later returned to the game. 

Davis' injury certainly didn't look good, but at this point it's still too early to tell how long he might be sidelined. The Lakers will likely prefer to be cautious given Davis' importance to the team and his extensive injury history, but sometimes things aren't as bad as they look on slow-motion replay. 

In any case, this incident involving Davis highlights the Lakers' current problems. Like most teams in the league, they're shorthanded right now due to injuries and players in the health and safety protocols. In fact, things were so bad that they were granted a hardship exception that allowed them to sign veteran guard Isaiah Thomas out of the G League. Thomas joined the team in Minneapolis and suited up against the Timberwolves for his first NBA game since late last season.