LOS ANGELES — Lakers star Anthony Davis says he will make his return from a nine-week absence on Thursday against the Dallas Mavericks, so long as his right leg responds well to Wednesday’s practice.
Davis said he now feels “100 percent” healthy from the calf strain and tendinosis in his right leg but detailed the scary moments after the injury occurred.
“I never tore an Achilles, but I kind of felt like sharp pain, like it was ripping, which I had never felt before,” Davis said. “… So I knew it was something serious. It wasn’t as serious as it could have been, but it was still a pretty significant injury.”
Lakers coach Frank Vogel said Davis will start against the Mavericks and that his playing time will be limited to the 15-minute range for the first two games he plays.
Davis said that LeBron James, sidelined with a right high ankle sprain for the last month, still “probably has a couple weeks or so” before joining him in the lineup.
L.A. has gone 14-16 since Davis went out on Feb. 14, falling from No. 2 to No. 5 in the Western Conference standings.
“It’s going to be my job to try to help the team stay afloat until he comes back as well and stay fighting,” Davis said. “But this team has done more than we can ask for.”