After over two months on the sideline, the Lakers welcomed back Anthony Davis to the lineup. He started the road game against the Mavericks in Dallas and played out all of his "minutes restriction" in the first half.
He finished with four points (2-10 FGs), four rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block in 17 minutes of action.
"I felt fine. My wind felt better than I expected," Davis said postgame. "I got good looks I missed. That'll come with time and getting game reps."
AD gets on the board in his @Lakers return.
— NBA (@NBA) April 23, 2021
📺: TNT pic.twitter.com/1OASyTdXSU
Given the number of games missed and the period he sat out, there was bound to be rust but Davis made it clear that he wasn't thinking about the injury.
"I didn’t think about it one time tonight," AD said postgame. "Honestly, I just went out there and played. That limits what you can do if you're out there thinking about your injury."
The Lakers would eventually go on to lose the game 115-110, with Luka Doncic stuffing the stat sheet.
Luka leads @dallasmavs to victory.
— NBA (@NBA) April 23, 2021
30 PTS | 9 REB | 8 AST | 3 STL pic.twitter.com/ONIW58xYsz
The loss drops the Lakers to a 35-24 record, good for fifth in the West with only 13 games remaining.
While Davis returned to the lineup, LeBron James was still in street clothes for this one. This was his 17th consecutive missed game after suffering a high-ankle sprain in mid-March.
More than big numbers, the Lakers would want the AD and James to get some much-needed game-reps before the team's championship defence begins in the postseason.
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