Anthony Davis made his Dallas Mavericks debut on Saturday and was sensational, particularly in the first half, as he led the Mavs to a win over the Houston Rockets. However, there was cause for concern as Davis left the game late in the third quarter with what the team simply called a “lower body injury”.
Given Davis’ injury history and he was just making his return from an abdominal injury, it was an inauspicious way for his first game with his new team to come to an end. After the game, Davis spoke with reporters and said he thought he’d be “fine,” noting he was struggling to get his leg to loosen up between his quadricep and groin. Unfortunately, Davis’ self-diagnosis was a bit more optimistic than the actual one, as Shams Charania reported he was expected to miss multiple weeks with an adductor injury, while Marc Stein reported he could be out indefinitely with further tests to come to determine if he will require surgery or not.
Whatever the case, it’s a significant blow to the Mavericks and will not help alleviate the pressure and frustration from fans after the Luka Doncic trade. The first half against Houston gave brief hope that, perhaps, Dallas’ vision of building a team around Davis and Kyrie Irving and leaning on their defense would make them a contender. Now they are going to be without Davis for at least a chunk of time, making it unlikely they’ll be able to make a real push into the West playoff picture. At 28-25, the Mavs are currently 8th in the West, 1.5 games ahead of the Kings and 1.5 back of the Clippers.
If there is a silver lining, it’s that there will be a week without games during the All-Star break. Davis will join Giannis Antetokounmpo as All-Stars sidelined with injuries during the festivities in San Francisco, with Adam Silver making injury replacement selections for both some time this week.
