Anthony Davis

Lakers star Anthony Davis, out the past 5½ weeks with a foot injury, will return Wednesday night and come off the bench for the first time in nearly a ...

All told, Davis has been a substitute in only five out of the 629 games he has played in his career. 18, 2013, in Los Angeles against the He will be on a minutes restriction in the 20-24 minute range, sources told ESPN.

Davis hasn't come off the bench in a game since 2013-14, his second season in the league with New Orleans.

[Thomas Bryant](https://theathletic.com/nba/player/thomas-bryant-dq4B2s0HiwRTR3cB/), who stepped up in Davis’ absence, averaging 15.5 points and 9.4 rebounds. [New Orleans](https://theathletic.com/nba/team/pelicans/). Ham has hinted he’ll try more lineups with Bryant and Davis together, which could push James and Hachimura to small forward more often, forming a bigger and more physically imposing frontline (while limiting the use of the Lakers’ three-guard lineups, which have struggled). But the Lakers’ coaching staff is going to have a lot to figure out over the next few games. Davis will be eased in with a minutes restriction in the 20-to-24-minute range. His return comes at a pivotal time for the Lakers, as they’re just 1.5 games out of the Play-In Tournament and 2.5 games out of the playoffs.

Anthony Davis scored 21 points, LeBron James had 20 as the Lakers bounced back with a 113-104 win over the Spurs on Wednesday at Crypto.com Arena.

He finished with 12 points, six rebounds and was a team-best plus-17 in 22 minutes. The first field goal was a swished three-pointer. Davis took a scary-looking fall near midcourt at the end of the third quarter. “I thought he looked good,” Lakers coach Darvin Ham said after the win. “We have a video playbook that he has full access to, that he’s been using, looking at. He landed awkwardly on his right foot after a shot challenge by Zach Collins. He scored 21 points in 26 minutes to go with four blocks and 12 rebounds. We’ve also physically, manually put him through some scripting. He added a finish near the rim, a silky turnaround jumper and a two-handed dunk before the end of the first half. Ham said he wanted Davis to come off the bench so he’d be available under his minutes limit at the close of the game and that he was comfortable with Davis’ recovery. That was a huge relief.” “...

Anthony Davis scores 21 points in his return from a right foot injury and Rui Hachimura adds 12 in his Lakers debut -- both off the bench.

We need to work on everything that we need to shore up and that’s a lot of different areas. It definitely helped as the forward had six points during a fourth-quarter run when the Lakers took control. Davis did give the fans at Crypto.com Arena a slight scare at the end of the third quarter when he went down while being fouled on a 3-point attempt near midcourt. “I was testing the waters at first,” Davis said. Davis was a little tentative his first couple minutes back on the floor. He was 7 of 15 from the field and also had 12 rebounds in 26 minutes for his 19th double-double in 26 games played this season.

Anthony Davis gave Los Angeles Lakers fans quite a scare at the end of the third quarter against the San Antonio Spurs Wednesday night.

They still have a long way to go in both integrating Hachimura and getting Davis back up to speed, but on Wednesday, the Lakers gave the rest of the league a glimpse of what this team might look like at full strength. The Lakers, whose limited size was only exacerbated with Davis out this past month, finally had a bit of length to put on the floor defensively. Hachimura, also coming off of the bench despite reports indicating that he will eventually start, scored 12 points on seven shots while pulling in six rebounds and finishing with a team-best plus-18 point-differential. Of course, he wasn't just back on the floor with old teammates. [Anthony Davis](/nba/players/1992786/anthony-davis/) gave [Los Angeles Lakers](https://www.cbssports.com/nba/teams/LAL/los-angeles-lakers/) fans quite a scare at the end of the third quarter against the [San Antonio Spurs](https://www.cbssports.com/nba/teams/SA/san-antonio-spurs/) Wednesday night. The final tally: 21 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks in just 26 minutes as the Lakers picked up their third win in four tries.

That's when 6-foot-10 Anthony Davis and 6-8 Rui Hachimura walked to the scorer's table, eliciting a hearty round of cheers from the Crypto.com Arena crowd ...

Ham said Hachimura coming off the bench was also to “ease him in” to his Lakers’ role, while also figuring out where he fits best. “Not put that pressure on him that he’s got to have everything figured out from the word go, Ham said. “We didn’t want to make him feel like he’s missing a deadline or we’re expecting him back and he’s not available. While Davis didn’t appear in the starting lineup on Wednesday, he seemed happy enough to soak up team introductions as a key reserve. “We would save him from himself if we thought there was any type of threat or harm that he could do to himself,” Ham said. When he collided with the leg of Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic mid-air last month, he fractured a spur in the navicular bone in his right foot and suffered a stress reaction.

Davis has 21 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots in his return from a right foot injury, LeBron James has 20 points and Rui Hachimura scores 12 in a 113- ...

But in general, he’s a guy that’s gonna set the table, put his teammates in a position to succeed.” After going 0 for 2 from the field in the first quarter, he caught a shooting rhythm and was 7 for 13 the rest of the night to go with a 6-for-7 showing from the free-throw line. But the oft-injured star was quickly on his feet again and sank the three free throws he was awarded when Collins was hit with a flagrant foul. His team-high six turnovers were another sign of a dull edge – or perhaps just as much an indicator of the craftiness of San Antonio’s Tre Jones plucking four steals. Hachimura had six points during the spurt and James scored five. It was the Spurs who looked fresh against the Lakers, who had finished But in the moment, Ham quipped that he almost fainted when it looked like his big man was down again. Hachimura saw his number called in transition with early layups, but also a few post-ups – which Davis noted with mock envy are normally called for him. The group powered up during an 11-0 run early in the fourth quarter that effectively put them in command: James, Dennis Schröder and Max Christie all hit 3-pointers, then Thomas Bryant flushed a sharp feed from James to give the Lakers a 10-point edge. The Lakers also simultaneously debuted newly acquired Rui Hachimura, a sturdy 6-foot-8 forward who had 12 points, six rebounds and a handful of bright moments – including a few transition feeds from James. The Lakers were far from a well-oiled machine on Wednesday night despite having a good deal of their parts finally in order. Running the pick-and-roll attack they’ve been refining for nearly four years, LeBron James and Anthony Davis seemed in lockstep zooming toward the rim – where defenses fear them the most.

That didn't slow him down one bit, and despite a minutes limit, he wound up leading the Lakers in scoring. The final tally: 21 points, 12 rebounds and four ...

They still have a long way to go in both integrating Hachimura and getting Davis back up to speed, but on Wednesday, the Lakers gave the rest of the league a glimpse of what this team might look like at full strength. The Lakers, whose limited size was only exacerbated with Davis out this past month, finally had a bit of length to put on the floor defensively. Hachimura, also coming off of the bench despite reports indicating that he will eventually start, scored 12 points on seven shots while pulling in six rebounds and finishing with a team-best plus-18 point-differential. Of course, he wasn't just back on the floor with old teammates. [Anthony Davis](/nba/players/1992786/anthony-davis/) gave [Los Angeles Lakers](https://www.cbssports.com/nba/teams/LAL/los-angeles-lakers/) fans quite a scare at the end of the third quarter against the [San Antonio Spurs](https://www.cbssports.com/nba/teams/SA/san-antonio-spurs/) Wednesday night. The final tally: 21 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks in just 26 minutes as the Lakers picked up their third win in four tries.