What to make of Anthony Davis injury ahead of Game 5 vs. Nuggets [UPDATE]

UPDATE: Davis is confirmed in the starting lineup along with Dwight Howard again. This was to be expected with Vogel saying that Davis would be good to go for Game 5 on Saturday night. Davis is fine to roll out in DFS Showdowns and I don’t see any reason why he’d be limited at all. Just now that the ankle likely isn’t 100%, so Davis is a minor risk of injury in-game (or maybe a trip or two to the locker room).

Los Angeles Lakers PF Anthony Davis popped up on the injury report ahead of Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals against the Denver Nuggets on Saturday night. AD is dealing with an ankle injury, though coach Frank Vogel already came out and said Davis should be good to go for the game. With Davis expected to play, we shouldn’t buy into the injury much, right? Let’s take a look at the potential impact.

In Game 4, Vogel inserted Dwight Howard into the starting lineup. This could have been a precursor to the injury now that we think about it a bit. Howard provides a steady presence down low to clear the glass, something AD didn’t do any of in Game 3, when he had two boards. Davis still played 41 minutes in Game 4 and had 34 points, so again, he’s probably fine and this isn’t anything to worry about. We could see more run out of Howard on Saturday night, so if he remains in the starting lineup, he’ll be an interesting play again.

Really, the only thing we can takeaway from Davis being listed on the injury report is the mental aspect of it all. The Nuggets have overcome a 3-1 deficit in two straight series. Davis being banged up should only increase the confidence level of the Nuggets. They’ve faced adversity before and have overcome. They’ll need to do the same again if they want to make it to the Finals. Knowing that there’s a small fraction of doubt in Davis’ left ankle should give Denver added hope of pulling off another comeback.

Because of this line of thinking and perhaps the AD injury, the line on Game 5 has moved down to its lowest of the series — Lakers -5. This is likely a lot of the public leaning towards the Nuggets at least extending the series another game after what we’ve seen the past two series. I imagine a lot of the sharp money is coming in on the Lakers at this low number. Even in a close game, if the Lakers are up, fouls will come into play with Denver’s season potentially coming to an end. Unless there’s some crazy buzzer-beater, if the Lakers win, they should cover this spread in my eyes.

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