This is concerning for a Dallas team already missing one of its stars due to injury.
Anthony Davis was clearly in pain after landing following a first-quarter basket against Indiana on Wednesday night. He was removed from the game and did not return, with the team officially ruling him out at halftime due to “left lower leg soreness.” After the game, coach Jason Kidd said this, via Tim MacMahon of ESPN.
“He tried to return -- didn’t want to take any chances,” Kidd said. “We’ll see how he feels moving forward.”
Davis was listed as probable before the game, dealing with bilateral Achilles tendinopathy. It is possible he aggravated that.
Davis had averaged 32 minutes a night for Dallas through the first four games of the season. Davis has a long history of nagging injuries limiting his time on the court, having played in 65+ games just once since 2018 (he played 76 games in 2023-24). That includes missing 18 games for the Mavericks last season due to an adductor strain, following his being at the heart of the controversial Luka Doncic trade.
Dallas’ other two centers did not play against the Pacers due to injury. Dereck Lively II is out with a right knee sprain, while Daniel Gafford has yet to play this season due to a sprained right ankle. That is in addition to point guard Kyrie Irving being out recovering from a torn ACL (his return is expected at some point this season, but likely not until the calendar flips to 2026).
Despite Davis being out, Dallas escaped with a 107-105 win at home behind strong bench play from Brandon Williams (20 points and seven rebounds), Dwight Powell (18 points) and D’Angelo Russell (14 points). Cooper Flagg had 15 points and 10 rebounds for Dallas. Indiana’s Pascal Siakam led all scorers with 27 and added 13 rebounds.
