The Los Angeles Lakers seem to be gaining momentum at the midway point of the 2022-23 NBA season, and the most impressive thing about that fact is that they’ve been winning without superstar big man Anthony Davis.
Davis has been out since the middle of December with a foot injury, but his recovery has been going well. In fact, Davis is now expected to return later this week. He’ll either retake the court in a Wednesday matchup versus the San Antonio Spurs or a Saturday game against the Boston Celtics.
.@mcten says "its imminent" that Anthony Davis returns to play this week.
Could be as soon as Wednesday against the Spurs or that its "more likely" he plays Saturday vs. the Celtics (ABC game)#LakeShow pic.twitter.com/1vqRXiDFt7
— 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧' 𝐍𝐁𝐀 (@_Talkin_NBA) January 24, 2023
This should come as music to the ears of Lakers fans everywhere. As fans will remember well, Davis was having an incredible run of games before his foot injury derailed the momentum. He was starting to look like an MVP candidate night in and night out.
In the month prior to going down, Davis was putting up 32.4 points, 14.0 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 2.3 blocks and 1.2 steals per game. He was hitting 64.1 percent of his field goals and 33.3 percent of his 3-pointers.
At the time, his injury appeared to spell doom for the Lakers playoff hopes. Incredibly, the team has managed to keep pace in the wide-open Western Conference.
Though the Lakers are still three games under .500 with a record of 22-25, they are just two games back from the No. 6 seed in the West. That seed is the final playoff spot that won’t require going through the play-in tournament.
Of course, LeBron James is the main reason why the Lakers have remained competitive in Davis’ absence. He’s been on an incredible tear lately and continues to rewrite the rules when it comes to a player extending his prime.
With James and Davis back on the floor together in the near future, the Lakers could easily start making up serious ground in the conference standings.
Between that and the fact that the Lakers seem increasingly willing to make trades prior to the Feb. 9 deadline, things could get very exciting in L.A. in the relatively near future.
The 2022-23 season seemed like a lost cause for the Lakers just a few months ago. Now, there are finally some reasons for fans to feel confident about what might come next.
