Right now, Anthony Davis is experiencing one of the best years of his entire career. Over the last couple of years, the big man suffered from a series of injuries that crippled his ability to stay consistent. In turn, this also hurt the Los Angeles Lakers in various ways. The Lakers were not able to qualify for the playoffs in 2022 and they had an embarrassing exit in 2021 against the Phoenix Suns.
Somehow, under the leadership of LeBron James, LA managed to reach the Western Conference Finals in 2023. Since then, Rob Pelinka has beefed up the roster by including Taurean Prince, Jaxson Hayes, Gabe Vincent, and most importantly, Christian Wood. The Lakers now have much more depth on the roster and are expected to have a strong season up ahead.
They had a fairly decent preseason run. But now, the Lakers are 3-4 in the Western Conference. As of now, Anthony Davis and LeBron James are doing a great job leading the team. They had a couple of great victories over teams such as the Phoenix Suns and Sacramento Kings. However, in their recent bout, Davis had an injury scare that took him out midway through the game against the Miami Heat.
Anthony Davis will be available to play against the Houston
During the first half of the Lakers vs. Heat game, Shams Charania reported that Anthony Davis had pain on his left side. He eventually said that he had spasms around his hip and groin as well. However, Davis said he would try to play through the second half of the game. A few minutes into the third quarter, he exited the court. Davis made his way to the locker room and did not return to finish the game. LA lost to the Heat by one point and Davis finished with 9 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists.
Anthony Davis exited tonight’s Lakers-Heat game with an apparent injury.
Hope he’s alright 🙏pic.twitter.com/8sEtFCcuXP
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) November 7, 2023
However, the Lakers are confident that the Defensive Player of the Year candidate will return to play against the Houston Rockets. Davis has been averaging 23.9 points, 12 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and a career-high 3.3 blocks per game. AD is currently the favorite to win the DPOY award. This has been one of his biggest dreams over the last few years.
Meanwhile, even if Anthony Davis does not return to the court, the Lakers could give Christian Wood more minutes as a replacement. While Wood has never been great on defense, he is capable of providing an offensive crutch for when Davis isn’t available. Wood is very capable of scoring 20 points per game which is enough to back James up.