LOS ANGELES — Dallas Mavericks star power forward/center Anthony Davis, who has been sidelined for the past month because of a calf strain, returned to face the Lakers in Los Angeles on Friday night.
It is the first time the 2020 NBA champion is facing his former team in L.A. since the February trade that sent Davis to the Mavs as part of the package in exchange for superstar guard Luka Doncic. Davis was expected to play 24 to 27 minutes against the Lakers, Mavs coach Jason Kidd said.
“You’re talking about one of the best players in the world,” Kidd said. “The chemistry when you get him back on the floor, it’s going to take a little time. For tonight, I just want a positive experience, positive minutes.”
Davis, who has been sidelined since Oct. 29, originally targeted a Nov. 8 road game against the Washington Wizards as his return date. However, Mavs governor Patrick Dumont put that plan on hold, acting on the advice of Dallas health and performance director Johann Bilsborough. Dumont insisted that Davis wouldn’t be cleared to play until there was medical data that indicated he was not at risk of aggravating the calf strain.
Editor’s Picks
1 Related
After practice Wednesday, Davis told reporters that he would play in one end of the Mavs’ weekend back-to-back against the two Los Angeles teams.
“You know what game I want to play,” he said, referring to the matchup with his former team. “But we’ll see.”
The plan now is for Davis to sit out Saturday’s game against the LA Clippers and be available for Monday’s road game against the Denver Nuggets.
Davis returns 17 days after the Mavs fired general manager Nico Harrison and amid the expectation that the Mavs will explore possibly trading him before the early February deadline.
“That doesn’t affect me; I’ve been in trade talks for a while,” Davis said. “My job is to do what I do when I’m on the floor, play basketball and try to lead this team. Whatever comes out of that, comes out of that. I don’t have really any control over that, but I do have an open line of communication with the front office, and I’m just ready to get back on the floor.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
