Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis will return to the lineup on Wednesday against the San Antonio Spurs, barring any hiccups in his pregame warmups.
Davis has been out since Dec. 16, when he suffered a stress reaction in his right foot while also fracturing a bone spur. Davis will have a minute restriction of 20-24 minutes.
Davis will be on a 20-24 minute restriction, recovering from an injury that caused some medical staff to project an 8-10 week recovery period. https://t.co/eH0aKTCrkH
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) January 25, 2023
Davis was playing arguably the best basketball of his career before he was injured. He is averaging 27.4 points and 12.1 rebounds per game for the Lakers. More importantly, he managed to knock them out of the bottom of the standings after they started the season 2-10. From then on, Davis led the Lakers to a 9-6 record until his injury, all while LeBron James was injured. He averaged roughly 33 points per game in that stretch if you exclude the two games he left early.
Davis led the Lakers when James was out. Ever since Davis went down, LeBron has returned the favor. Assuming Davis returns on Wednesday, the Lakers will have gone 11-10 and will hold their own in the play-in hunt at 22-26. James has averaged roughly 34 points per game since Davis went down. Key players Austin Reaves and Lonnie Walker IV were also injured during that stretch. James has played so well that it hasn’t mattered.
James and Davis have been seen separately as the best players in the NBA for stretches of this season. Now they are ready to play together once more. The last time the two did it for a full season, the Lakers won a championship. They have a long way to go to get to that level again, but if it’s going to happen, it now looks like it will start Wednesday against San Antonio.
The Los Angeles Lakers are +180 to make the playoffs according to California sportsbooks. Returning with the full force of him, Davis should increase his chances of becoming a top six seed in the Western Conference.
