Anthony Davis injury revives Mavericks nightmare fans feared most

This is a terrible fate this early in the season for the Mavericks.

Will Miller

Toronto Raptors v Dallas Mavericks / Stacy Revere/GettyImages

The Dallas Mavericks barely finagled a victory over the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday, with injuries on both sides severely altering this game's trajectory. Mavericks superstar Anthony Davis suffered lower leg soreness after just seven minutes of action in the first quarter, as Davis wasn't able to play the rest of the contest, and now it seems like the Mavericks will be down all three of their rotational bigs once again.

The Mavericks and Nico Harrison have been lauding their size and physicality at the rim, but Dereck Lively II, Anthony Davis, and Daniel Gafford have rarely all been healthy at the same time since the Luka Doncic trade, compromising the identity Harrison envisions for this Mavericks team.

Davis' lower leg soreness could be part of the bilateral Achilles tendinopathy he was listed with on Wednesday's injury report, which is certainly a red flag, considering tendinopathy is typically more lingering or chronic compared to a regular injury. Speculation won't solve anything, but this isn't a good sign for a 32-year-old with Davis' injury history, especially just five games into the regular season.

Mavericks are down their entire center trio due to injuries once again

Barring late into last season, right before the Play-In Tournament, the Mavericks haven't had any of their prominent three bigs at once, as aforementioned, as Gafford hasn't been healthy since the start of training camp with an ankle sprain, and Lively II has missed two consecutive games with a knee sprain.

While it seems like Gafford will be returning soon, and it doesn't appear Lively II's injury is too serious (knock on wood), the Mavericks could once again be in a position where they have to go a stretch without any starting-caliber centers. This early in the season and in a treacherous Western Conference, this could be even tougher compared to at the end of last year for the Mavericks, as most teams aren't that banged up and still have a lot of juice at this point in the season.

If the Mavericks can get one of Gafford or Lively II back relatively soon, this may not be too detrimental, but given how bleak Dallas' offense has looked throughout most of this season, as well as the fact that their rim protection is supposed to be part of their backbone, things could get rough quickly if they can't get this big-man trio back on the court again.

As long as Dallas has two of their three bigs, they can probably still keep their season alive, but going a prolonged stretch with two or all three of their highest-paid bigs out could absolutely wreck any chance of this team being competitive this season. This is a terribly unfortunate situation to be in this early in the season for the Mavericks and their fans, but it at least seems Lively II and Gafford could return relatively soon, while Davis' timeline is still up in the air at this point.

Will Miller

Will Miller is a senior contributor and is in his second year with The Smoking Cuban. Will has been following the Dallas Mavericks for over a decade and is currently working on getting a Bachelors in Science in Sports Journalism from the University of North Texas, as he is also covering sports for the North Texas TV station. While Will is opening up his coverage to cover other sports for UNT, basketball and the Dallas Mavericks are his true passion and he hopes to continue writing and producing Mavericks related content as his career continues. Will has very solid in-game analysis and knowledge about the intricacies of the game, and has a very broad understanding about the NBA as a whole. Going forward Will is looking to be more expansive in his coverage of the Mavericks beyond writing as well. Outside of writing about the Mavericks, Will enjoys hanging with friends, going to the gym, and watching other sports and live events.