DALLAS \u2014 If it\u2019s up to Anthony Davis, he\u2019ll make his return from injury Friday against his former team, the Los Angeles Lakers.<\/p>\n
The Dallas Mavericks big man went through a full practice Wednesday for the first time since he suffered a left calf strain on Oct. 29. Davis is on track to play either Friday against the Lakers or Saturday against the LA Clippers. Davis will only play in one leg of the Mavericks\u2019 upcoming back-to-back.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know what game I want to play,\u201d Davis said. \u201cBut we\u2019ll see. We\u2019ll have a conversation. See what makes the most sense with the medical staff and coaching staff. No decision has been made. Obviously, (I) would like to. But at the end of the day, it\u2019s getting back on the floor, whether it\u2019s Friday or Saturday. Whatever we discuss.\u201d<\/p>\n
Davis spent four and a half seasons with the Lakers before the Mavericks acquired him in a February trade for Luka Don\u010di\u0107. So far, Davis has only been able to suit up for 14 games in a Mavericks uniform. He spent six weeks recovering from an adductor strain last season, and he has missed the Mavericks\u2019 past 14 games while he works his way back from a left calf strain.<\/p>\n
Dallas (5-14) has gone 3-11 without Davis this season, and will enter Friday\u2019s game in 14th place in the Western Conference standings. The Lakers (13-4) are tied for second in the West. Don\u010di\u0107 is leading the NBA with an average of 35.2 points per game.<\/p>\n
On Nov. 11, the Mavericks fired general manager Nico Harrison, who was the driving force behind the decision to trade Don\u010dic for Davis. Harrison had a strong relationship with Davis that dated back more than a decade. Davis said it was \u201csurprising\u201d to see Harrison get let go.<\/p>\n
\u201cNico is my guy,\u201d Davis said. \u201cHe played a huge part in getting me here and wanting me to fulfill his vision that he saw. It was definitely tough. Me and him had a conversation. Me and (Mavericks governor) Patrick (Dumont) had a conversation. You know, it\u2019s the business of basketball. Once I had those conversations, I was able to move forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
Once Harrison was fired, trade rumors involving Davis picked up. The 32-year-old 10-time All-Star, who is owed $58.5 million next season and holds a $62.8 player option in 2027-28, said that chatter doesn\u2019t affect him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is basketball,\u201d Davis said. \u201cThis is what comes with it. I think everybody in their career has been involved in trade talks. Been traded. Or some type of move. That doesn\u2019t affect me. I\u2019ve been in trade talks for a while. My job is to do what I do on the floor. Play basketball. Try to lead this team.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do have an open line of communication with the front office. I\u2019m just ready to get back on the floor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Davis said he is hopeful he can help the Mavericks win more close games. Dallas has a 4-11 record this season in \u201cclutch\u201d games (any game within five points in the final five minutes).<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the tough thing about us, man,\u201d Davis said. \u201cWe are right there in every game. For me, it\u2019s like this is where the moment is to kind of close these games and help us on both ends of the floor. It\u2019s very tough. It gets even more frustrating when I\u2019m not able to get out there on the floor.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully, this weekend, I can get out there and start helping us win some of these clutch games.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DALLAS \u2014 If it\u2019s up to Anthony Davis, he\u2019ll make his return from injury Friday against his former…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":406720,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[3139,3141,1260,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-406719","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-dallas-mavericks","9":"tag-los-angeles-lakers","10":"tag-nba","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-unitedstates","14":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115617796171503351","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=406719"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/406719\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/406720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=406719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=406719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=406719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}