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New Dallas Mavericks star Anthony Davis said Tuesday that he could debut with his new team later this week.
Davis said that he won’t play Tuesday due to an abdominal strain, he will go through a post-shootaround workout and could play either Thursday against the Boston Celtics or Saturday against the Houston Rockets, per ESPN’s Tim Bontemps,
Davis has had a mostly healthy season thus far, playing in 42 games and putting up 25.7 points, 11.9 rebounds, 2.1 blocks and 1.3 steals per game.
He has missed some time since suffering an abdominal muscle strain against the Philadelphia 76ers on Jan. 28, which occurred when he was still with the Los Angeles Lakers, but has otherwise avoided any major injuries this year.
The Mavs shocked the basketball world Saturday when they acquired AD in a blockbuster deal that sent superstar guard Luka Dončić to the Lakers.
Davis entered the 2024-25 campaign coming off the healthiest season of his career a year ago, playing 76 games while putting up 24.7 points, 12.6 rebounds, 2.3 blocks and 1.3 steals per game. Before last season, Davis had not played more than 62 games since the 2017-18 season when he was with the New Orleans Pelicans.
The Mavs brought Davis to Dallas because they believe that “defense wins championships,” and they’ll need Davis on the court soon to get to their goal of winning a title.
Entering play Tuesday, the Mavs are eighth in the Western Conference with a 26-24 record, which suggests they need a healthy Davis in the lineup soon in order to get inside the top six, which is the cut-off for reaching the playoffs without having to go through the postseason play-in tournament.
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