LOS ANGELES — Midway through the fourth quarter of Friday’s game between the Lakers and Mavericks, Anthony Davis had his moment. LeBron James, Davis’s former teammate, corralled an offensive rebound in the paint. When James attempted to flip in a left-handed putback, Davis was there, swatting the ball into a far corner.
“Presented itself,” Davis said of the block after the game.
Was there any extra juice in blocking James?
“No,” Davis said. “[There’s] pleasure in winning. Not just a block.”
Dallas didn’t win, falling to Los Angeles, 129–119, the Mavs’ third straight defeat. Still, the return of Davis, out since late October, offered a silver lining. In 28 minutes, Davis scored 12 points, chipping in five rebounds and three blocks. When Jason Kidd, who said before the game Davis was on a 27-minute limit, pulled Davis midway through the fourth quarter, the Mavericks trailed by three. When he returned, they were down 10.
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“I thought he was good,” Kidd said. “First game back, trying to get the rhythm, trying to get the flow. Just being with those guys on the floor. I thought he was good on both ends. As we go forward and continue as we talked about, to stack in good minutes and he did that.”
For a player who missed 14 games with a calf injury, Davis looked sharp. The Lakers swarmed Davis with double teams in the first quarter, limiting Davis to two points. He scored four in the second with two assists. He had another four in the third. When Kidd pulled Davis in the fourth, Davis was visibly frustrated heading to the bench.
“It was tough,” Davis said. “Tough, for sure.”
Dallas, understandably, will be cautious with Davis. His calf injury was serious enough for team ownership to reportedly get involved, insisting that Davis get full medical clearance before he returned. Last season Davis rushed to return from an adductor injury, reaggravating it and being forced to sit out for six weeks.
“It’s always tough with a minute restriction,” Davis said. “You want to play, especially in the fourth. And even through the first three quarters, five minutes is definitely a short stint. I’m used to playing nine or the whole first quarter. So it was definitely different for rhythm.”
Davis will not play Saturday, when the Mavericks travel down the road to Inglewood, Calif., to play the Clippers. But with Davis back, Dallas is hoping to turn a corner. It’s been a disappointing season, with the Mavs falling to 5–15 after the loss to the Lakers. Nico Harrison, the embattled ex–general manager, was fired this month, creating uncertainty about the team’s future. Davis’s successful return is something Dallas hopes it can build on.
“No matter of a trade or a dismissal, you got to keep moving,” Kidd said. “For AD, [it] was the focus on his body, come back healthy. So he’s healthy, he’s ready to go. Get him in the lineup, get him some minutes [and] as I’ve talked about, have a positive experience. Can’t get everything solved in [28] minutes tonight, but as we go forward, we feel like we have a chance to win when he’s in uniform.”
Davis said the extra time was good for his body. It was hard to watch his team struggle. “Anytime you sit down and you see these guys compete, especially in close games, you wish you could be out there,” Davis said. Now that he’s back, he believes he can still help them win. Against the Lakers, he saw signs that they could.
“We just keep competing,” Davis said. “We’re getting great looks and making the right plays. Just a couple of plays here and there that usually hurt us. So keep playing, keep fighting. Positive attitude. I feel like we’re right there. We just got to keep going.”
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