It only took one game.
Dallas Mavericks newly acquired big man Anthony Davis is expected to be on the shelf multiple weeks due to a left adductor strain, according to ESPN’s senior NBA insider Shams Charania.
The injury occurred in the third quarter of Saturday’s win over the Houston Rockets, which was Davis’ first game as a member of the Mavericks following his acquisition at the trade deadline.
Davis had previously missed approximately two weeks with an abdominal injury sustained when he was a member of the Los Angeles Lakers. He was dominant in the first half in his Mavericks debut, racking up 26 points, 16 rebounds and seven assists in only 31 minutes on the court. However, in the third quarter, he attempted to guard Jalen Green on a pick-and-roll before rotating over to Alperen Sengun on a pocket pass. As he rotated, he collapsed in significant pain with a non-contact injury and left the game.
Davis, 31-years-of-age, was nonchalant and downplayed concern about the injury postgame, saying he was “very confident” that it was not a significant setback. Boy was he wrong.
“Just the leg got tight, like a little spasm,” Davis said Saturday. “Just came back and tried to get it loose and everything. Obviously, dealing with the ab strain still, so just tried to get it loose. It wouldn’t really loosen up and let go, but it’s nothing serious. I’m fine.”
The injury leaves Dallas seriously compromised and shorthanded in the front court, as second-year center Dereck Lively, out of Duke, is also out with a stress fracture in his right ankle. The Mavericks said he would be re-evaluated in four weeks at the time of his injury in late-January, but reports have indicated he could potentially miss the rest of the regular season.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe Davis injury marks the latest chapter in the thus-far disastrous Luka Doncic trade fiasco for the Mavericks. Dallas was widely criticized and raked through the coals by fans and media alike, for trading the 25-year-old Doncic, fresh off a trip to the NBA Finals eight months earlier, for the 31-year-old Davis, who has an injury history that is a mile long, dating back to his days with the New Orleans Pelicans. Injuries reared their ugly head as soon as Davis arrived in Dallas.
Now, the Mavericks find themselves in a difficult position. They made the Doncic-for-Davis swap, in part, because they felt it gave them a better chance to win right now and in the future, as Doncic has also been sidelined since Christmas due to a calf injury. Now, however, they will be without Davis for a meaningful chunk of time. Lively is also sidelined, and Caleb Martin, another deadline acquisition, is dealing with a hip injury severe enough that the Philadelphia 76ers had to add a second-round pick to the deal just to get it across the finish line. The Mavericks are three games above .500, 28-25 on the season and currently sit in the No. 8 seed in the Western Conference. They lead the No. 11 Golden State Warriors, who just acquired Jimmy Butler from the Miami Heat, but only by 1.5 games.
Doncic is expected to debut for the Lakers against the Utah Jazz as soon as Monday. It is far too early in the process to choose a winner in a deal of this magnitude, but with Davis sidelined for the foreseeable future, the Lakers are probably much happier with where they stand, comfortably in the No. 5 seed having won nine of their last 10 games, than the Mavericks, who are fighting just to reach the postseason.
