Mavericks' sudden injury update is exactly what Anthony Davis desperately needed

Heading into tonight's game against the Chicago Bulls, the Dallas Mavericks have won three of their last four games, and Anthony Davis has been on the floor for two of those three wins. Dallas is 3-0 in games that Davis plays in, and he returned at the perfect time, considering the Mavericks are pushing hard to string together some wins ahead of the playoffs next month.

Dallas has no interest in tanking games, as Davis was locked in on returning this season and wanted to be there for his teammates in any way that he could. He saw the Mavericks struggling to have eight players available for some games with many players playing heavy minutes, and he took it upon himself to play again this season and give the team more firepower before the playoffs.

While the Mavericks are still pretty banged up, help is on the way as Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford are listed as doubtful for tonight's game. Gafford has been dealing with an MCL sprain since early February, while Lively II has been out with a stress fracture in his ankle since the middle of January, and it seems like their returns are imminent. Obviously, they likely won't play tonight, but them being listed as doubtful is a sign that their return to the floor is extremely soon.

Anthony Davis' gift from the basketball gods will unlock his dominance

The Mavericks almost always hint at players' impending returns by listing them as doubtful right before they return, and these updates for Lively II and Gafford should have Davis ecstatic.

With Lively II and Gafford returning to the lineup soon, Davis will get to move back to his natural position, the power forward spot. Davis got the chance to play power forward in each of his first three games for the Mavs, but with Kai Jones going down earlier this week, it looked like he was going to have to play some center going into the next few games. Now with Lively II and Gafford returning soon and Jones listed as questionable for tonight, it sounds like Davis' time at the center spot will be shorter than expected, and he can get back to dominating at the four soon.

Davis playing power forward works so well for him because it gives the Mavericks two rim protectors on the floor at all times when he shares the floor with Lively II or Gafford. We saw glimpses of this deadly duo in his Mavericks debut when he played next to Gafford, and their defense looked outstanding. Davis can also roam more freely and show off his versatility when playing the four, and with P.J. Washington next to him on the wing, the Mavericks' defense will have opponents shaking in their boots.

Outside of the basketball fit reasons that Davis is such a great fit at the four, it also decreases the wear and tear on his body since he doesn't have to always defend fives. Keeping Davis healthy should be a top priority for Dallas heading into the playoffs and the offseason, and they should have better odds of being able to do that with both of the bigs returning soon.

On the other end of the floor, Davis will naturally get more mismatches and have the chance to dominate smaller forwards with his strength down low or take slower bigs off the bounce and stretch them out behind the 3-point line. This allows him to not always have to battle down low like he would have if he were playing the five, and playing him at the four feeds into his offensive strengths much more.

There is solid proof that playing Davis at the four leads to success in the playoffs, as the Los Angeles Lakers won the NBA Finals in 2020 with Davis as their starting power forward. The Lakers played Davis alongside traditional bigs like Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee, and this allowed him to flourish on both ends of the floor.

While the Mavericks will be without Kyrie Irving for the rest of the season and into the playoffs, having Lively II and Gafford back on the floor at some point soon impacts everything they do, and fans will get to see Davis in a role that has led to success time and time again in the past.