Lakers' Anthony Davis returns to practice in full
The Los Angeles Lakers can breathe a little easier with the news that center Anthony Davis returned to practice on Monday and participated fully.
In the wake of the bad news that LeBron James has been sidelined with an ankle injury, the Lakers can count their lucky stars as their big man has just started training in full once again.
Anthony Davis participates fully in training
The Lakers will be well relieved today after seeing the full return to training of center Anthony Davis. The big man was of course sidelined due to a mid-foot sprain which he sustained back on February 15th. While he is currently listed as doubtful for Tuesday's game against the Mavericks in Dallas, he is expected to make his return to the team in the near future. The news of course comes on the back of LeBron James going down with a tweaked ankle during Sunday's game against the Pelicans. It should be noted that James himself is also listed as doubtful for the game in Dallas and no clear timeline has been given for his return as yet. With this latest trading of places between the two, its worth pointing out that the Lakers have only been able to count on both players at the same time on just 21 occassions this season.
Lakers coach Frank Vogel did indeed confirm that Davis was a full participant in practice Monday for the first time since he suffered the mid-foot sprain last month, however, he would not be drawn on whether or not Davis would be available for Tuesday's game. With that said, one can expect that Davis will soon be back in the lineup for the Lakers.
Anthony Davis' injury worries and the Lakers' struggles
As mentioned before Davis has been unavailable through injury since February 15th due to a mid-foot sprain, however, it was by no means the only problem he faced this season. Prior to the sprain Davis actually suffered an MCL injury which saw him sit out more than a month before he was able to return to training. Resulting complications from said injury also saw him miss additional time before he was able to return to the team. Suffice to say, the stop and start nature of Davis' campaign has been less than ideal for the Lakers as they attempt to steady what has been essentially a disastrous campaign.
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At present the Lakers sit on a record of 31-43 Lakers and are in 10th place in the Western Conference. Their most recent loss - against the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday - cost them the tiebreaker and with the Spurs (30-44) right behind them for a play in spot, they literally have no wiggle room. Should the Lakers fail to turn things around in the next few weeks, they chances of making the post season will be all but lost. One way to increase their chances would be to have both James and Davis available. Indeed, any playoff showing that the Lakers hope to make will undoubtedly require their two best players. Where Davis is concerned, it would appear that LA will soon have their man back, but when it comes to James' situation, for the moment all the Lakers can do is hope and pray.