Dallas Mavericks star center Anthony Davis left Wednesday’s game early as the team squeaked out a 107-105 home win against the Indiana Pacers. The team cited “left lower leg soreness” as the reason for his exit in the first quarter.
Davis was ruled out at halftime with Indiana leading 55-52.
According to ESPN’s Tim McMenamin, Davis stood up carefully after scoring and signaled to the bench that he needed to come out of the game.
Davis crouched down on the sideline for several seconds when the Mavs called a timeout with 4:12 left in the opening quarter before heading to the locker room.
He managed just four points, four rebounds, and one steal in his six minutes on the court.
“He tried to return – didn’t want to take any chances,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd explained after the game. “We’ll see how he feels moving forward.”
Injury Concerns Were Already Present
This isn’t coming out of nowhere. Davis had been listed as probable on the pregame injury report because of bilateral Achilles tendinopathy – basically swelling and irritation in his Achilles tendon.
Still, he’d been playing heavy minutes before this setback, logging at least 32 minutes in each of Dallas’ first four games this season.
The 32-year-old big man has had a tough time staying healthy since joining the Mavericks. He played in only nine regular-season games for Dallas last season after being the centerpiece in the blockbuster Luka Doncic trade.
When the Mavs acquired the 6-foot-10 center, he was already recovering from an abdominal injury. Then he strained his adductor in his very first game with Dallas, sidelining him for six weeks.
A Summer of Recovery
Davis’s health issues didn’t stop there. During the offseason, he underwent a procedure to fix a detached retina that happened near the end of last season.
The eye injury occurred during Dallas’ 120-118 win over the Atlanta Hawks on April 2. His teammate, Daniel Gafford, accidentally elbowed him in the eye. Davis left the game bleeding and came back with a bandage above his right eye, which needed four stitches.
Because of that injury, he’s now required to wear protective goggles for the rest of his career.
Depleted Roster
The Mavs are already dealing with several key injuries. All-Star guard Kyrie Irving has no timeline for return after tearing his ACL in March.
Center Daniel Gafford hasn’t played at all this season after spraining his ankle during the first practice of training camp.
To make matters worse, center Dereck Lively II missed his second straight game with a sprained knee.
The Mavericks will head to Mexico City to face the Detroit Pistons on Saturday, potentially with a severely depleted frontcourt if Davis can’t return.
