DETROIT – The Los Angeles Lakers’ perfect 3-0 start to the season seems like a long time ago.

Monday’s 115-103 loss to the Detroit Pistons dropped LA to 4-3 overall and 1-3 on their five-game road trip. Making matters worse, Anthony Davis, who scored 37 points against Detroit to raise his league-leading average to 32.6 points per game, was examined after suffering a left foot injury in the fourth quarter.

“I’m going to talk to my coach and find out exactly what’s going on,” Davis said after the game. “Honestly, I’ve been doing it since this summer and my goal every game is to be on the field. And I just landed right on the spot that killed me. So we’ll manage.” “

Davis has not been held out of the Lakers’ game at the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday to conclude the trip, sources told ESPN. However, those sources warned that the foot problem that plagued the All-Star big man from the end of last season through the Paris Olympics will be a common situation.

Davis intercepted a pass from LeBron James and scored with 4:46 left to clinch a 103-96 draw against LA – which trailed by as many as 20 points in the first half. But the bucket had a consequence. As Davis planted his foot after diving to catch the pass, there was discomfort and he winced as he made his way back to defense.

The Lakers called a timeout 20 seconds later when James collected the rebound after a missed shot by Tobias Harris, and Davis immediately went to the ground and grabbed his left foot near the heel before receiving medical attention from his athletic trainer, Jon Ishop. Davis stayed in the game and scored on an alley-oop dunk from James on the next possession to cut Detroit’s lead to five points with 4:10 left, but the Pistons closed out the game with a 12-5 run to put an end to it.

James, who played a season-high 40 minutes with 20 points, 11 assists and 8 rebounds, was asked what Davis’ potential absence might mean for LA

“I don’t know,” James said. “I’m going second by second.”

As a reporter inquired, Davis – who was standing next to James – intervened and said, “He’s not out,” referring to himself.

When James heard Davis, he decided not to bother with hypotheses.

“I don’t play the ‘if’ game,” James said. “We’ll go by what AD says and see how he feels over the next few days and go from there. But it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know (the implications) of whether AD is in or out. Come on.” “

Although Davis’ status may be in question, he was crystal clear about his opinion of his team’s recent game.

“We’re just two different teams right now,” Davis said. “In one game we are that team that showed they can be one of the better teams in the league. And the next game we’re this team that – I don’t even know who we are. So we just made it better.

“We need to put together a full 48 (minutes) and we can’t keep doing that if we expect to accomplish anything this season.”

From the second half of LA’s win at the Toronto Raptors on Friday to the first half in Detroit, the Lakers were outscored 141-108 by two teams that didn’t make the playoffs last season. It’s the latest pause in a disappointing journey that began with a loss to the Phoenix Suns on Oct. 28 after LA failed to defend an 18-point lead.

The loss to the Suns led to several players stating their team goal of not losing twice in a row all season, only for the Lakers to lose their next game to the Cleveland Cavaliers. After that loss, Davis called the games in Toronto, Detroit and Memphis all “must-wins,” another goal not achieved by this Lakers team trying to find its footing.

“We’re all disappointed,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said when asked about his team’s behavior after Monday’s game. “We are all disappointed.”