The Los Angeles Lakers‘ late-season slide has continued out of the All-Star break. They’re just 2-6 since play resumed, and both of those wins have been a result of stunning 50-point performances from LeBron James, which is obviously not a sustainable formula.
In order to escape the play-in tournament and make any sort of noise in the postseason, the Lakers will need Anthony Davis back in the lineup and operating at an All-NBA level. Whether Davis can do so given his injuries and how he’s played at times this season remains to be seen, but the good news is he’s making progress towards a return.
During ABC’s NBA Countdown on Saturday night, Adrian Wojnarowski gave an update on Davis’ status, and said the Lakers are not punting on this season.
Wojnarowski’s report:
“His walking boot is off, and I’m told this week the next step for him is he’ll get on the court and start to do some stationary shooting. And they still, with 16 games left for the Lakers and the toughest schedule left in the league, the expectation is that they can still hang on to the play-in and get in the postseason and they can have Anthony Davis back.”
“Anthony Davis wants to be back, this team wants him back. He’ll make more progress this week they hope, and he’ll have another MRI which will be about four weeks out from the injury, and the hope is that he can then start progressing towards returning before the postseason begins.”
Davis has been out since Feb. 16, when he went down during the Lakers’ win over the Utah Jazz. The team later announced he had a foot sprain that would keep him out for at least four weeks. Davis will be out longer than that, but if his MRI later this week is positive he could be back sooner rather than later.
That would give the Lakers a much-needed boost heading down the stretch. There’s less than a month left in the regular season now, and the Lakers have the hardest schedule remaining in the league. They should be able to secure a play-in spot, but getting Davis back would make that much more likely.
Beyond that, it’s hard to have much faith in the Lakers making a postseason run based on what they’ve shown this season. Even so, no team is going to be thrilled about having to face LeBron and Davis. If they’re both healthy, that duo will always give the Lakers a sliver of hope.
