Anthony Davis' monster Mavericks debut overshadowed by worrisome injury

For three quarters Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison had to be feeling pretty damn good about his team's acquisition of Anthony Davis, but a non-contact injury in the second half denied Dallas fans any joy on Saturday.

The Mavericks went on to beat the Houston Rockets, 116-105, however, Davis' third quarter injury is now a major concern for Dallas just days after the team made one of the wildest trades in NBA history.

While the severity of Davis' lower-body concern isn't known yet, the only potential positive is that the NBA All-Star break is nearing and that will give him a little extra time to recover. That being said, Dallas is eighth in the Western Conference at the moment and only holds a two-game lead over chasing teams that want to make a run at the postseason.

This was the biggest concern with Anthony Davis rushing back from abdominal injury

-Making the strain worse than what it was

He could potentially now have a Grade II strain with a timeline to return of 4-6 WEEKS pic.twitter.com/0ZeFP7FuA8
— Dr. Evan Jeffries, DPT (@GameInjuryDoc) February 8, 2025

Prior to the Luka Doncic trade, which sent Davis to the Mavs, the veteran big man had been dealing with abdominal injury before making his Dallas debut. If it's a recurring injury, the Mavericks will certainly have cause for concern.

Davis was brilliant in his debut prior to his exit, scoring 26 points and tacking on 16 rebounds in just 31 minutes of play. It's clear the combination of Kyrie Irving and Davis can definitely be dangerous down the stretch for the Mavs as they push towards the playoffs, but if the latter is hurt that drastically alters the team's expectations.

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