Mavericks' Anthony Davis nightmare scarily reappears at worst time

Excitement was finally back in the air at the American Airlines Center on Wednesday night for the Dallas Mavericks' game against the Atlanta Hawks. Dereck Lively II returned for the first time since January 14, and Mavs fans would finally get the chance to see Lively II, Daniel Gafford, and Anthony Davis healthy all at the same time.

Mavs fans saw a glimpse of what the trio could do in the first quarter, as Davis, Lively II, and Gafford had a solid start, but it all came crashing down at the end of the quarter.

Davis had been dominating, as he had the best first quarter of his Mavericks career outside of his incredible Mavs debut, but he went down at the end of the quarter when trying to get a shot off before the buzzer sounded.

Anthony Davis accidentally struck by teammate's elbow

As Davis was trying to get a shot up, Gafford accidentally elbowed him in the face, causing him to spend significant time on the floor before having to go back to the locker room. Davis spent some time at the scorer's table with the medical staff before ultimately jogging back to the locker room, and he ended up returning right before the second quarter ended with a big bandage over his right eye and even scored a bucket.

While the initial fear from fans that this injury was serious was wiped away when he returned to the floor, Davis getting hurt in any capacity was a worst-case scenario for Dallas. The fact that he stumbled as he was walking to the scorer's table ignited fear into fans considering that it is sometimes a clear sign of a concussion, but the fact that they brought him back likely means that wasn't a concern for them.

The Mavericks were hesitant to bring him back from his adductor strain to begin with, and they're going to need him healthy if they want to make any noise in the Play-In Tournament and potentially beyond. He is the clear-cut alpha on the team now with Kyrie Irving out for the season due to a torn ACL, and fans feared the worst when they saw him go down. This team has suffered a bizarre number of injuries this season, and a serious injury to Davis would have been the nail in the coffin.

This was a brutal break for Davis for about 10 minutes, as he was eager to get back on the floor last week, and Mavs fans are ecstatic that he was able to return to the floor. Davis getting re-injured was fans' biggest fear when the Mavericks decided to bring him back last week instead of shutting him down, and even though the injury didn't end up being serious, it still briefly struck fear into fans' minds. Davis' injury being serious would have likely ended Dallas' season, as they will only go as far as he does, and the media should get a better idea about what Davis was dealing with after the game.

Davis' warrior mindset was on full display by him returning to this game, and as he has emphasized many times, if he is able to play, he will. Getting back on the floor last week was important for him despite Dallas' slim chances of winning in the postseason, and this is one part of his personality that Mavericks fans will quickly grow to love.