Dallas Mavericks star Anthony Davis has been out with a calf strain since late October, but he has been upgraded to questionable for Friday night’s matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Davis — if he’s able to play — would get to face his former team on Friday, and he seemingly made it clear that he’d rather face them on Friday than the Los Angeles Clippers on the second night of a back-to-back on Saturday.
Anthony Davis (calf) on if he’d prefer to return Friday against the Lakers or Saturday against the Clippers:
“You know what game I want to play.”pic.twitter.com/fi7KyCpb4u
— Underdog NBA (@UnderdogNBA) November 26, 2025
Earlier this week, NBA insider Marc Stein had reported that Davis could return on Friday if he responded well in the team’s practice on Wednesday.
The Mavs have been extremely cautious with Davis and his calf issue that he suffered against the Indiana Pacers back on Oct. 29. Mavs owner Patrick Dumont even called for Davis to be held out to make sure there was no risk of him worsening his calf strain.
Across the NBA, calf injuries are being treated with a lot more caution since Tyrese Haliburton had a calf issue that ended up becoming a ruptured Achilles during the NBA Finals last season.
If Davis plays, it would be a major boost to a Dallas team that has struggled on offense all season long and is a 10.5-point underdog in Los Angeles on Friday. The Lakers (13-4) are the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference and have won five games in a row heading into this matchup.
It’s possible that a Davis return could shift this spread slightly towards the Mavs, but oddsmakers clearly have them as sizable underdogs against Luka Doncic, LeBron James and company.
With Davis in the lineup this season, the Mavs are just 2-3, with one of those wins coming over Indiana when AD left in the first quarter. He has missed the team’s last 14 games, and they are just 3-11 without him.
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