Anthony Davis made his return to the Pelicans lineup on Wednesday as New Orleans visited the Warriors in Oakland after missing the previous two games with an elbow sprain.
Davis didn’t look quite like his normal self as he had 17 points, 12 rebounds, and seven assists on the game, but shot just 6-of-16 from the field in 41 minutes of play. The Pelicans are back in action on Thursday night in Portland, but the potential MVP candidate is doubtful to play after such a large workload in his first game back on Thursday.
New Orleans forward Anthony Davis (elbow sprain) is being ruled as doubtful for tonight’s matchup at Portland.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) November 1, 2018
It’s probably wise to give Davis some rest on a back-to-back to ensure that elbow doesn’t flare up anymore or become some longer term issue. New Orleans is a 4.5-point underdog to the Blazers as a result of Davis’ expected absence and the Pelicans will be looking to avoid falling to 4-4 on the season after a 4-0 start — they are 0-2 without Davis thus far.
Davis’ presence is crucial to the Pelicans’ success on both ends of the floor, and the scoring load in the frontcourt will be put on Julius Randle and Nikola Mirotic, who is off to a tremendous start to the season shooting the ball, although he’s been far more efficient with Davis in the lineup.
