{"id":509549,"date":"2026-01-01T09:22:32","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T09:22:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/509549\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T09:22:32","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T09:22:32","slug":"anthony-davis-expected-back-thursday-as-dallas-mavericks-get-key-boost-vs-philadelphia-76ers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/509549\/","title":{"rendered":"Anthony Davis Expected Back Thursday As Dallas Mavericks Get Key Boost vs. Philadelphia 76ers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anthony Davis<\/a> is expected to return to the lineup Thursday night when the Dallas Mavericks host the Philadelphia 76ers, with head coach Jason Kidd<\/a> indicating the All-Star big man should resume his usual workload.<\/p>\n

Speaking following Wednesday\u2019s practice, Kidd said Davis is expected to play 30\u201334 minutes, consistent with his usage when available this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe always want him to play, so we\u2019re happy to have him back,\u201d Kidd said. \u201cWe\u2019ll see \u2014 30 to 34 minutes. We want to get him some touches. Offensively and defensively, we need him to be AD.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anthony Davis Active and Explosive in Practice<\/p>\n

Davis participated fully during the open portion of practice, working one-on-one and showing no visible limitations. He attacked the rim with force, finished through contact with multiple dunks, and displayed efficiency on turnaround jumpers and post-ups \u2014 a positive sign after missing Monday\u2019s loss to Portland due to right adductor soreness.<\/p>\n

Kidd confirmed Davis\u2019 availability while also clarifying which players remain sidelined.<\/p>\n

\u201cMedically, Lively, Irving and Exum will be out,\u201d Kidd said. \u201cWe expect AD to be in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dallas will continue without Kyrie Irving<\/a>, Dant\u00e9 Exum, and Dereck Lively II<\/a>, increasing the importance of Davis\u2019 presence on both ends of the floor.<\/p>\n

Chemistry and Impact When Anthony Davis Is Available<\/p>\n

Kidd emphasized that Davis\u2019 return is about more than just individual production, pointing to how his presence stabilizes rotations and strengthens lineup continuity.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of it is chemistry,\u201d Kidd said. \u201cWhen guys get minutes with AD, relationships are created. Hopefully we can pick up where that left off. I thought him and Cooper were starting to play at a very high level. We won some big games against talented teams. Having AD helps us win ball games.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Mavericks are 8-8 in games Davis has played this season and 4-14 without him, underscoring how central his availability has been to Dallas\u2019 competitiveness amid a stretch defined by injuries and close losses.<\/p>\n

Matchup Context vs. Philadelphia 76ers<\/p>\n

Dallas faced Philadelphia seven days ago and struggled defensively at the point of attack, something Kidd said must improve regardless of personnel.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to do a better job guarding the ball,\u201d Kidd said. \u201cWe didn\u2019t do that. Embiid was out, so when Embiid\u2019s in, it\u2019s a different game. But when you look at how Philly played, they played at a high level. Both Maxey and Oubre were very, very good. We\u2019ve got to keep those guys out of the paint.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked about the challenge posed by Joel Embiid<\/a>, Kidd pointed to the full scope of his offensive skill set.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you look at what he did last night in Memphis, being able to shoot it, he can post, he can pass,\u201d Kidd said. \u201cThe touches he gets, he can put the ball in the basket. He\u2019s been doing that his whole career.\u201d<\/p>\n

Outlook Entering Thursday<\/p>\n

Davis has averaged 20.5 points, 10.9 rebounds, and 2.8 assists in 16 games this season, anchoring Dallas defensively while providing interior scoring and rim protection. With multiple rotation players still out, his return gives the Mavericks a stabilizing presence as they look to reverse a recent run of narrow defeats.<\/p>\n

Dallas hosts Philadelphia on Thursday night.<\/p>\n

Latest Dallas Mavericks News & NBA Rumors<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Anthony Davis is expected to return to the lineup Thursday night when the Dallas Mavericks host the Philadelphia…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":509550,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3769],"tags":[679,495,7,149,3716,1320,6,8889,3101,678,207,3817],"class_list":{"0":"post-509549","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia-76ers","8":"tag-76ers","9":"tag-anthony-davis","10":"tag-basketball","11":"tag-dallas-mavericks","12":"tag-jason-kidd","13":"tag-mavericks-news","14":"tag-nba","15":"tag-nba-injury-report","16":"tag-nba-news","17":"tag-philadelphia","18":"tag-philadelphia-76ers","19":"tag-philadelphia76ers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115819114915941918","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509549","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=509549"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509549\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/509550"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=509549"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=509549"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=509549"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}