Anthony Davis is back.
The Dallas Mavericks center acquired in the Luka Dončić trade will make his return to the lineup Monday night against the Brooklyn Nets. Head coach Jason Kidd told reporters Monday afternoon that Davis will play and be restricted to 28 minutes.
Davis has played a total of 31 minutes for the Mavericks since arriving in the Feb. 1 trade that shocked the NBA. Davis was dealing with injury when the trade was commenced and made his Mavericks debut a week later against the Houston Rockets on Feb. 8.
He thrived in his debut with 26 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists and three blocks. But he was sidelined with an adductor strain late in the game and hasn’t played since. Davis has missed 18 games since being injured.
The Mavericks have gone 6-12 in those games, but remain in the hunt in the West’s play-in race. The Mavericks enter Monday’s action at 34-37 and are tied in the win-loss column with the Phoenix Suns. The 10th-place Suns currently have the tiebreaker over the Mavericks and would secure the final spot in the play-in over the Mavericks if the season ended prior to Monday’s games.
Davis’ return offers a significant boost to the Mavericks’ hopes. The centerpiece of the return for Dallas in the Dončić deal, Davis is averaging 25.7 points, 12 rebounds, 3.4 assists, 1.3 steals and 2.2 blocks in 43 games this season, 42 of which were played with the Los Angeles Lakers.
A 10-time All-Star and five-time All-NBA selection, Davis is producing All-NBA level numbers on a per-game basis. If healthy, he’ll make a Mavericks lineup riddled with injury considerably better. It won’t sooth the lingering anger in Dallas over trading Dončić to the rival Lakers. But Davis’ return gives Dallas hope of competing to make the postseason.
