Anthony Davis suffered a major setback Thursday night during the Dallas Mavericks‘ 116-114 loss to the Utah Jazz. The big man injured his left hand, and an MRI has revealed ligament damage that could keep him out for months.
That’s a huge blow for a Dallas team already struggling to stay in the playoff hunt.
Davis left the game late in the fourth quarter after defending Lauri Markkanen. He didn’t come back.
Before the injury, he’d put together a solid performance – 21 points, 11 rebounds, and four assists in 35 minutes. Then it all came to a screeching halt.
Nobody Knows When He’ll Be Back
ESPN’s Shams Charania and Tim MacMahon broke the news Friday afternoon. Davis has ligament damage in his left hand, and he’s currently getting a second medical opinion to figure out if he needs surgery.
“Depending on second opinion and if surgery is required, Davis could miss a number of months,” Charania wrote.
The Mavericks have confirmed the injury but haven’t given any official timeline. And that’s the tricky part.
If Davis needs surgery, he could be out way past the Feb. 5 trade deadline. That basically kills his value as a trade piece this season. Even if he avoids going under the knife, he’s looking at at least six weeks on the sideline.
His name’s been floating around in trade rumors lately, and plenty of teams were keeping tabs on his situation. But this injury? It pretty much shuts down any serious trade talk until after the deadline passes.
This Keeps Happening
Here’s the frustrating part for Dallas fans – Davis has been injury-prone his entire time with the Mavericks.
The 10-time All-Star has already missed 18 of 31 games this season. Calf problems. Groin strains. And get this: he was already recovering from an abductor strain when Dallas traded for him in the first place.
It’s been one thing after another.
Dallas is sitting outside the playoff picture right now, and they desperately need their stars healthy if they want to climb up the Western Conference standings. This couldn’t have come at a worse time.
The Mavericks face the Chicago Bulls next, and everyone in the league will be watching for updates on Davis’s recovery. More importantly, people want to know what this means for Dallas’s playoff chances.
Because right now? Things aren’t looking great.
