November 28: Davis will make his return on Friday vs. the Lakers, ESPN’s Shams Charania confirms (via Twitter).
November 26: Injured Mavericks big man Anthony Davis took part in Wednesday’s practice and is expected to be listed as questionable for Friday’s game against the Lakers, tweets Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News.
After having the next two nights off, Dallas will play a back-to-back set in Los Angeles against the Lakers on Friday and the Clippers on Saturday. Davis won’t be cleared to play both of those games after being sidelined since October 29 due to a left calf strain, so the plan is for the team to see how he feels on Thursday and then make a decision on whether he’ll play Friday or Saturday.
Asked which game he’d prefer to play in, Davis responded with a smile and made it clear he’d love to suit up against his former team.
“That’s a real question?” he said (Twitter video link via Curtis). “You know what game I want to play. But we’ll see. We’ll have a conversation and see what makes the most sense with the medical staff and the coaching staff.”
Having been affected by multiple injuries since the Lakers traded him to Dallas in February, Davis hasn’t had the chance yet to play at Crypto.com Arena as a member of Mavericks.
Davis had initially hoped to return much sooner from the calf strain that has now kept him out of action for the past 14 games, but Mavs governor Patrick Dumont reportedly got involved in the decision-making process and pushed for a cautious approach that would reduce the risk of the 32-year-old re-aggravating the injury or making it worse.
The Mavericks, who were 2-3 with Davis in the lineup, have lost 11 of their last 14 contests and now have the second-worst record in the Western Conference at 5-14. In addition to playing without Davis, Dallas has also been missing guards Kyrie Irving and Dante Exum due to long-term injuries and big man Dereck Lively II, who has been dealing with right foot and knee issues.