West Notes: Lakers, Anthony Davis, Clippers, Warriors

Lakers

Big man Anthony Davis was forced to leave the Lakers’ road loss to the Heat on Monday with hip spasms, but said he is “very optimistic” and expects to play Wednesday at the Rockets.

“Everything’s going to be fine,” Davis said, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN. “I’ll be ready to go for Wednesday, for sure.”

• Guard D’Angelo Russell, who received a technical in the loss, suggested he’s not too worried about the fact the Lakers are off to an average start. “I think this is the adversity that we need as a group,” Russell said, via Dan Woike of the LA Times. “We still had a chance to win the game with guys out, with all the nonsense that was going on, we still had a chance. That’s all you can ask for.”

Clippers

• James Harden says he sees “unlimited possibilities” with the Clippers are their new Big Four of Harden, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Russell Westbrook, via Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN.
• Leonard indicated he liked what he saw from Harden in his Clippers debut, a loss to the Knicks. “He did a good job in his first game in a while,” Leonard said, via Youngmisuk. “And it takes time to get his legs under him as far as conditioning. But he did a great job to me, got everybody involved running pick-and-roll very well.”
• Harden admitted that it “felt kind of weird” playing for the first time since last season’s playoffs. We have that full post here.
• Backup center Mason Plumlee had to be carried off the court after a collision with the Knicks’ Julius Randle on Monday. Per Youngmisuk, the original diagnosis for Plumlee was a left knee sprain.

Warriors

• While forward Gui Santos signed a three-year deal with the Warriors, he is still expected to split time between the parent club and Santa Cruz Warriors of the G League, per Kendra Andrews of ESPN.
• Andrews added that the 6-foot-7 Santos offers the Warriors “more frontcourt depth but doesn’t add much size to an already small team.”
• The Santos signing is official and comes with a partial guarantee, as we relayed here.
• Coach Steve Kerr said he already appreciates what veteran point guard Chris Paul brings to the team. “Chris has made such a huge impact without making shots, so when he does, it just adds to what he’s already doing,” Kerr told reporters. “He’s got 62 assists and six turnovers, which is insane.”