The Los Angeles Lakers simultaneously endured their worst and enjoyed their best night of the season on Wednesday. Anthony Davis suffered a disturbing ankle injury before LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, and Austin Reaves erased a 14-point deficit to defeat the Utah Jazz, 106-101. In a span of two quarters, the Lakers — and the Crypto.com Arena crowd — went from deflated and despondent to uproarious and resurgent.

Now, right as the Lakers seem to be belatedly finding connectivity, resilience, and passion — three key components of championship-caliber squads — they're facing a 10-day hiatus (All-Star break) and a lengthier period of time without their second-best player who single-handedly keeps their defense afloat.

The 2021-22 season has been an emotional see-saw for the Lakers. Fittingly, the Jazz win was a roller-coaster unto itself. Let's break down the two sides of the coin.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/2cAwXlGAL4mGIhLUOXuBmB?si=0b9a31f4bb624674

The Bad

Hopefully, Davis' injury is not as bad as it looked. Because it looked bad. His ankle bent nearly 90 degrees as he landed on Rudy Gobert's foot, and he instantly writhed in pain on the floor. He was unable to put any weight on it and had to be carried into the Lakers locker room by Dwight Howard and DeAndre Jordan. LeBron revealed Davis was on crutches at halftime.

“Obviously it's sickening to see AD go down in that fashion,” James said. “I hope he's fine. Obviously, I mean, I know he's not like, great, but, obviously, his health is most important for him individually, for our ballclub. I've seen it too many times, obviously. So I just wish him the best.”

Davis is going to be re-evaluated after the All-Star break, according to the team. Initial X-rays revealed no fracture. He'll undergo an MRI on Thursday that should tell us more. He's expected to miss at least two weeks, per ESPN's Dave McMenamin.

“Just shaking his head about, you know, really everything,” Vogel said about seeing a dejected Davis postgame. “Obviously I'm not sure what it felt like, but just being frustrated about it looking like he's going to miss some time again.”

Severe ankle sprains can linger. LeBron missed 20 games with a high ankle sprain in 2020-21 and only came back when he did because the Lakers were making a push for the play-in/postseason. LeBron has insisted that he was not anywhere near 100 percent for the Phoenix Suns series (which was apparent at the time) and admitted he needed two months of rest over the summer before he could ramp up his basketball activities.

Needless to say, any encouraging developments from the past couple of games will be for naught if Davis can't return, or return near full strength. If that ends up being the case, Feb. 16 will go down as the worst night of the Lakers season. The Lakers went 7-10 and fielded a bottom-5 defense without AD in December and January.

“Time heals all,” LeBron added. “Unfortunate play, an unfortunate event, and he'll get back as soon as he can. But nothing to rush.”

The Good

If your glass of Lobos is half-full, the win over Utah represented a reassuring validation of the newfound positive developments the Lakers have displayed since the trade deadline: connectedness, pace, clutch execution, physicality, and resiliency.

“It's very deflating to see AD go down the way he did, and our guys tried to rally the necessary energy to start the second half,” Vogel said. “But there's an energy that you have to overcome … It would have been easy to fold the tent and give in and let go of the rope as Utah was making their run, knowing that we just lost AD. Hopefully, this game will be a lesson of what the big picture looks like for our team: Overcoming this type of adversity.”

Vogel specifically credited Russell Westbrook for keeping the Lakers' competitive spirits up after they came out flat in the second half.

“We stuck with it. Stuck with our principles and defended. Did a great job of just having each other's back for the entire game. And it was good to see that from our group. I feel like one of my strengths is leadership and staying with it,” Westbrook said. “I like to make sure I do a better job during timeouts regardless of what happened, staying positive, bringing positive energy and keeping our spirits moving in the right direction.”

(It also helped that Los Angeles Rams star Aaron Donald re-emerged from the tunnel a few minutes after halftime, providing a jolt of energy and commotion into the building. LeBron seemed especially fired up to ball out in front of the man he called “the greatest defensive player I've ever seen play the sport.”)

On Saturday, the Lakers left the Bay Area encouraged after hanging tough with the Golden State Warriors — a true moral victory. They were relieved to have the trade deadline behind them and cited a productive practice on Friday for their strong performance. LeBron said the team was as “connected” as they've been all season.

After the rare consecutive practice days on Monday and Tuesday, Los Angeles — as they've so rarely done this season — followed up a good game with a … good game!

LeBron took over in the final minutes, scoring 15 of his 33 points in the fourth quarter — after going 1-of-10 in the fourth on Saturday. He sent Crypto into a deafening craze with 10 straight points in a two-minute stretch beginning at the 3:17 mark.

“To take over a game in the fourth quarter like he did with energy, will, and determination is remarkable,” Vogel said. “He frequently leads with his voice; tonight, was about his action. Just a look in his eyes, and the way he was playing, the way he was approaching the defensive end. Just when he’s super locked in, the rest of the group follows.”

In addition to his leadership, Westbrook — 17 points, seven rebounds, six assists — played well for the second straight outing, and arguably for the first time in front of the home crowd since Jan. 4. He effectively controlled the tempo and ignited numerous buckets in the fourth quarter with his aggression. In general, the Lakers had no fear about attacking Rudy Gobert.

“You got a group of guys that all been through so many different things in their careers,” Westbrook said, “and when a talent like AD goes down, it’s difficult to be able to overcome right away, but our locker room stuck with it, fought through adversity and found a way to come out with the win.”

For the second time in his NBA career, Austin Reaves hit a dagger three-pointer. A few minutes prior, his tough and-1 transition finish amped Donald and the entire arena.

Talen Horton Tucker (four blocks) and Malik Monk (13 points) combined to produce an excellent two-way wing.

“Talen has strung together a few games now where he's been spectacular,” Vogel said, praising his defense.

As a collective, the Lakers have shown growth since the deadline. If Davis can return sooner rather than later and the Lakers truly turn their progress into habits, they can look back on Feb. 16 as the most important win of the season.

Until then, they have no choice but to persevere.

“Win games until he comes back. That simple,” Vogel stated about the plan to tread water without AD. “You can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We don’t know obviously how long it will be, but we got to win as many as we can down the stretch and believe in the group that we have.”