Very little has gone right for the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2021-22 NBA season, including injury-related issues and a disappointing win-loss performance. Still, the Lakers are alive in the postseason race, and Los Angeles got a bit of good news on Tuesday evening. During what was a dismal first half for the Lakers in a nationally televised game against Dallas, Chris Haynes of TNT and Yahoo Sports reported that star big man Anthony Davis is aiming to return on Friday when the Lakers take on the New Orleans Pelicans.
My @NBAonTNT Report: Los Angeles Lakers star Anthony Davis targeting a return Friday, star LeBron James anticipated to miss Thursday in SLC and Kendrick Nunn expected to be shelved for remainder of season. pic.twitter.com/UuZSXPlWT9
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) March 30, 2022
As Haynes notes, LeBron James missed Tuesday’s game with an ankle issue, and indicates that James will miss Thursday’s game as well. Still, there seems to be optimism that he’ll be back in the near future, and Haynes cites sources in saying Davis, barring setbacks, is targeting Friday against New Orleans or Sunday against Denver. Within the same report, however, Haynes does indicate that Kendrick Nunn, who has not appeared all season, is not likely to debut for Los Angeles before the end of the regular season.
Davis has appeared in only 37 of 75 games for the Lakers this season, and he hasn’t appeared since suffering an injury on Feb. 16. Despite a dismal 18.2 percent three-point shooting clip in a small sample, Davis is averaging 23.1 points and 9.7 rebounds per game and, at the very least, he would bring a desperately needed infusion of high-end talent for the Lakers. Though he may not be 100 percent upon arrival, any lingering optimism for the Lakers is tied to the hopes that James and Davis can overcome the rest of the organizational drawbacks when the bright lights come on in the playoffs, and this is a step toward that potential.