Although star centre Anthony Davis was not available for the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss to the Houston Rockets on Wednesday, it appears that he is improving as the team gets ready to play the Phoenix Suns on Friday.
With Davis now listed as probable for the game, it’s possible that he won’t miss consecutive games.
Davis has played in seven of the possible eight games this season, showing that he can stay on the floor even with his Wednesday injury.
Naturally, one of the biggest plot points in the NBA every season is his availability. He has only appeared in 62 regular season games during his time with the Lakers, and that was in the 2019–20 campaign, when he achieved the 60-game mark.
He is theoretically on track to play in roughly 70 games during the 2023–24 regular season, despite the fact that it is early. While it’s unclear if he’ll maintain that pace, the Lakers will accept it for the time being.
This season, Davis is averaging a league-best 23.9 points, 12.0 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 3.3 blocks per game. He is making 42.9 percent of his long range shots and 55.3 percent of his field goals. Although the sample size from the 3-point range is small, he has made progress in that area.
Regretfully, the Lakers haven’t won a game in more than a week and are only 3-5 overall. They made it to the Western Conference Finals last season despite a sluggish start, but they would undoubtedly prefer to ease their own misery this year by winning a lot of games early on.
With Davis out of the lineup last season, the Lakers finished 12–14. This season, they are 0-1 in these contests. If all goes according to plan, they will not lose this kind of game on Friday because it is anticipated that the veteran will suit up and participate.
The Lakers will play the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday following their game against Phoenix. The game on Friday is the final game of Los Angeles’ four-game road trip, and the game on Sunday will kick off a three-game home stand.