NEW ORLEANS -- Anthony Davis missed LeBron James and the Cavaliers' lone regular-season game at the Pelicans' Smoothie King Center on Monday night -- a 124-122 New Orleans win -- with a right thigh bruise.
Davis was kneed early on in the Pelicans' loss Friday to the Brooklyn Nets. He attempted to play through the injury but ultimately sat the final 17 minutes as New Orleans gave up 143 points to the NBA's last-place team.
The 23-year-old, listed as questionable going into Monday night, didn't practice the past two days because of lingering soreness.
Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said pregame that Davis was struggling to move laterally.
"It got tight and sore," Davis said Sunday. "I tried to do a lot of stuff to get it loose and warm, but it just wouldn't happen."
This marked Davis' fourth missed game of the season and the sixth time in the past seven that he missed at least some playing time because of injury.
"It's just one of those things," Gentry said. "It's nagging more than anything. I guess the layman's term for it is a charley horse. And you know how that is when you get hit in the knee or the thigh."
Davis missed a career-high 21 games last season, including the final 14 as a result of an ultrasonic debridement of his left knee.
He is averaging 28.6 points, 12.0 rebounds and 2.4 blocks per game this season, with the league's second-best player efficiency rating (28.35).