Anthony Davis will return to action in tonight’s game versus the cellar-dwelling Washington Wizards. Davis has missed 11 consecutive games with the stress reaction he sustained to his ankle in mid-November. New Orleans Hornets head coach Monty Williams has already indicated that he wants keep the smooth-shooting Ryan Anderson (balling out of his mind) in the starting lineup, relegating shot blocker extraordinaire Davis to coming off the bench behind Anderson and Robin Lopez for the time being.
“I’m going to bring him off the bench to ease him into playing again,” Williams said. “He’s excited about playing. Ryan is playing so well, I just think it’s the right thing to do. It’s good to have him back in the fold again.”
Fantasy implications: With Ryan Anderson playing so well the Hornets want to keep him on the floor at all costs, so it seems Lopez will be the player squeezed for minutes when Davis returns to full strength. Although with Al-Farouq Aminu being benched for Xavier Henry, sliding Anderson to the small forward slot to play alongside Davis and Lopez in the frontcourt makes sense. Until we see exactly how the minutes shake out, Ryan Anderson and Anthony Davis remain must plays, while Lopez is a more than solid start in standard formats.