The Los Angeles Lakers announced that Deandre Ayton (right knee contusion) will return to action on Friday night against the Dallas Mavericks after a one-game absence. Marcus Smart (back spasms) has been ruled out after originally being listed as questionable.
On the Dallas side of things, Anthony Davis returns to the lineup after missing the last 14 games with a calf injury. This will be Davis’ first time playing against the Lakers at Crypto.com Arena since being traded for Luka Doncic last February and he is expected to play between 24 and 27 minutes, according to Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd.
The Mavericks have a back-to-back against the Lakers and L.A. Clippers on Friday and Saturday, respectively, but Davis made it clear that he preferred to return against his former team.
It remains to be seen how much Davis will be able to play after missing 14 games, but the Lakers having Ayton back in the lineup to help slow him down will be a big boost. In 15 games for the Lakers this season, Ayton has averaged 15.5 points and 8.4 rebounds while shooting 69.6% from the field.
Without Smart in the lineup, others like Gabe Vincent, Jake LaRavia and perhaps Dalton Knecht will need to step up off the Lakers’ bench.
L.A. is going for its sixth straight win and can clinch home-court advantage in the Emirates NBA Cup quarterfinals with a victory over the Mavericks.
LeBron James pleased with Lakers’ additions of Deandre Ayton, Marcus Smart and Jake LaRavia
The Lakers are used to dealing with players going in and out of the lineup at this point and a big reason for that has been their depth. They added Deandre Ayton, Marcus Smart and Jake LaRavia this past offseason, and LeBron James was complimentary of what all three have brought to the team.
“Listen, we could sit here and talk about how unbelievable Luka and AR have been so far. It has not surprised me. Those guys are just super, ultra talented. What they bring to the game, we already know. But what I love is what DA and Jake and Marcus have brought to the team. Another level of toughness, another level of playmaking. The other night, Marcus having seven steals in a game, DA been dominant on the glass and being very efficient offensively and also before last night I think he was top 10 in defensive percentages contested at the rim. And Jake, who is number 12 is what they were saying I think in the Minnesota game, the crowd was like who is number 12 and Ant was like I don’t know. Guys know him now. I’m just proud of what the team has been doing and being able to watch from a far. It’s great, I think we have something really good going. It’s a long season obviously, we want to continue to play good basketball. That’s most important. But I like the pieces that we added.”
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