LOS ANGELES — Lakers star big man Anthony Davis will return to the lineup Wednesday against the visiting San Antonio Spurs barring setbacks during his pregame warm-up, league sources told ESPN.
Davis will have a 20- to 24-minute limit to recover from a foot injury that some medical workers predicted a recovery period of eight to 10 weeks, sources said. 5½ weeks ago he suffered a fractured bone spur and stress reaction in his right foot.
The Lakers won 10-10 in Davis’ absence after losing 133-115 to the LA Clippers on Tuesday.
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“I didn’t expect anything other than to go out and compete,” LeBron James said after the Clippers game when asked how the Lakers had fared without Davis. “It wasn’t like, ‘Okay, AD is out, what can we do?’ You just go out and play the game and see what happens.”
Davis averaged 27.4 points that season before the injury while also averaging career bests in rebounds (12.1 per game) and field goal percentage (59.4%) and 2.1 blocks.
Lakers coach Darvin Ham pulled off his main rotation players Tuesday with 5:07 in the fourth quarter, essentially conceding the loss as his team trailed 121-103.
Saving her legs to join Davis in Wednesday’s lineup against Spurs could have been a prescient move.
“I made an executive decision to pull the plug,” Ham explained. “Knowing we have a game to play tomorrow, we have to give ourselves the best possible chance to win.”
Rui Hachimura, acquired in a trade on Monday, will also be available for a game against Spurs, according to Ham.