Anthony Davis cleared from injury report, Austin Reaves upgraded to questionable vs. Kings

For the first time since the team’s fourth game of the season, Anthony Davis is not listed on the Lakers injury report ahead of their matchup with the Sacramento Kings. And in additional (and rare!) good injury news for the team this season, Austin Reaves has been upgraded to questionable after missing the last nine games with a hamstring strain.

Davis getting taken off the injury report is certainly great news, and not only means he’s over the flu-like symptoms that left him a gametime decision against the New York Knicks and bedridden with a fever the next day against the Indiana Pacers, but that he’s also past the right thigh contusion he was most recently listed prior to that illness.

Reaves, meanwhile, has clearly wanted to return for several games, but the team was being extra careful so he didn’t suffer a setback, and him being upgraded here is a positive sign that he responded well to the work the team is putting him through to return to play.

In non-updates, LeBron James (rectus abdominis strain) is once again being listed as questionable, and Chaundee Brown Jr. and Jay Huff (two-way contracts) are on assignment with the South Bay Lakers, while Trevor Ariza (right ankle injury recovery) and Kendrick Nunn (right knee bone bruise) are both still out. Frank Vogel said the latter two were both “still a ways away” on Wednesday, which is both intentionally unspecific and the same thing he’s been saying about them all season.

But with (hopefully) both Reaves and Davis back in the lineup — and provided LeBron James is ultimately cleared (as he usually is) — the Lakers should look much closer to their fully intact selves on Friday when they host Sacramento. That game will tip-off at 7:30 p.m. in Staples Center, and be televised locally on Spectrum SportsNet.

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