The Dallas Mavericks announced Thursday, Feb. 20, that Anthony Davis is making good progress in his recovery from a left adductor strain he suffered during his team debut on Feb. 8.
The Mavericks’ medical update added that Davis will be re-evaluated in two weeks.
This is good news for the Mavericks as Davis has avoided a season-ending surgery that could have been a major blow to their postseason hopes.
Davis’ injury dampened what has been a sensational debut for him with his new team. The 32-year-old Davis produced MVP-type numbers: 26 points, 16 rebounds, seven assists and three blocks in 31 minutes in the Mavericks’ 116-105 win over their Texas rivals Houston Rockets.
The injury also added more salt to the pain of the Mavericks fans for losing their former franchise player Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers.
While the Mavericks are still reeling on the fallout of the most shocking trade in history from a PR standpoint, the team has recovered from the initial shock.
They have won four of their last five games to improve to 4-3 since the most shocking trade in league history. It could have been a five-game winning streak had they not collapsed late in their 129-128 loss to the Sacramento Kings on Feb. 10, the very next game after Davis’ injury.
At 30-26, the Mavericks are just two games outside of the top six, which earns an automatic playoff berth. They begin their final push for the playoffs against the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday, Feb. 21, at home before visiting the Golden State Warriors (Feb. 23) and the much-anticipated first game against Doncic in L.A. (Feb. 25).
Mavericks Out of Centers
The Mavericks’ one-point loss to the Kings that blemished their record over their last five games became more heartbreaking after their erstwhile remaining healthy center Daniel Gafford suffered a right knee injury.
On Thursday, Feb. 13, ESPN reported that Gafford’s injury was determined to be a Grade 3 MCL that will sideline him for at least six weeks.
The Mavericks will only have eight games left in the regular season schedule, six weeks from now. Gafford’s injury is the latest in the string of unfortunate health issues that is threatening to torpedo their first season without Doncic.
Dallas’ young starting center Dereck Lively II, has been out since Jan. 14 with a stress fracture in his ankle. He is not expected to return until the start of the postseason. Their veteran center Dwight Powell is also dealing with a right hip strain that has sidelined him indefinitely.
They signed 7-foot center Kylor Kelley to a two-way contract but the 27-year-old undrafted big man has not been part of the rotation since his double-double (12 points, 11 rebounds) performance in a 34-minute spot start in their 144-101 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on the day Doncic was shockingly traded.
Moses Brown as Band-Aid Solution
In the wake of the unfortunate injuries that depleted their center rotation, the Mavericks are bringing back Moses Brown on a 10-day contract as their band-aid solution.
The 7-foot-2 center played for 26 games in Dallas during the 2021-22 season, averaging 3.1 points and 2.3 rebounds in 6.5 minutes. He became the casualty of the Kristaps Porzingis trade to the Washington Wizards as the Mavericks waived him to create a roster spot for the incoming players in the deal.
Brown averaged 15.6 points, 14.9 rebounds per game for the Westchester Knicks in the NBA G League this season. He also had a brief stint with the Indiana Pacers in November, averaging 3.2 points, 1.4 rebounds and 5.1 minutes across nine games.
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