[Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images]As Anthony Davis is dealing with a sore left knee, NOLA.com reports that shutting him down for the final 14 games of the season isn’t a bad idea.
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Davis was forced to leave Friday night’s game against the Trail Blazers just before halftime after suffering a left knee injury after trying to set a screen on guard CJ McCollum for point guard Jrue Holiday.
Coach Alvin Gentry did not offer any further details, but he noted that Davis will meet with team doctors Saturday afternoon.
“I wouldn’t say no to that, ” Gentry said. Davis scored 19 points in the first half of the game but did not come out to start the second half for the Pelicans and was replaced by Ryan Anderson in the starting line-up. “I think we’ve gotta be smart collectively, along with him. I wouldn’t say no to that”, Gentry told ESPN Saturday. “But I think that’s something that you would definitely have to consider”. Through 61 games this season, Davis is averaging 24.3 points (7th in NBA), 10.3 rebounds (7th) and 2.0 blocks per game (3rd), though the Pelicans’ collective struggles might hurt his case for the postseason honor.
As for the lingering shoulder issue, Gentry only said that it was “something that’s kind of been there”.
Davis was seen after Saturday’s practice, but Gentry said he did not participate.
New Orleans’ leading scorer and rebounder at 24.4 points and 10.4 rebounds per game, Davis has missed seven games already this year due to various injuries.
Since entering the National Basketball Association in 2012, he has never played an entire 82-game season. New Orleans grabbed its final lead at 109-108 on a Dante Cunningham bucket inside with 1:13 left and then Lillard orchestrated the two biggest plays of the game. “It’s going to take a lot more than that to take me out”.
The Pelicans announced the injury during the third quarter and that Davis was doubtful to return. Add on personal absences and illnesses, and that number rises to 228.
The five-year contract extension Davis signed in the offseason becomes $23 million richer if he qualifies for the NBA’s “Rose Rule”, which would allow his salary to take up 30 percent of the Pelicans’ salary cap as opposed to 25 percent.
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If the New Orleans Pelicans decide to shut down Anthony Davis and sit him for the rest of this season, it would likely be the best decision.
