ORLANDO – Several days ahead of schedule, Anthony Davis will make his return to the court Thursday in New Orleans’ preseason finale against the Orlando Magic. The three-time All-Star forward said after this morning’s shootaround that he is excited to be back and looks forward to getting a final opportunity to compete with his teammates prior to Wednesday’s Opening Night vs. Denver in the Smoothie King Center.
“I’m just happy to be back on the floor,” Davis said in Amway Center. “I’ve been working every day to get my ankle back right… I was trying to find a way to beat the system and come back early, to be back on the floor. I knew in my head that I wanted to come back before the season opener. I think we did a great job of putting in extra work of getting my ankle back and being ready to play.”
Davis sustained a sprained right ankle Oct. 12 in China vs. Houston, and was given a timetable to return of 10-14 days. Just over a week later, however, he will be back in uniform for the Pelicans’ final tune-up of October. In addition to Davis’ return, projected starting shooting guard E’Twaun Moore (heel) also said he will play tonight, after Moore missed Tuesday’s defeat in Atlanta.
“It’s good, because we’re going to play this game (like a real game),” Davis said of having more of a normal complement of players available vs. the Magic. “Nobody has restrictions on them as far as minutes. It’s going to help us to see what we need to work on for the next couple days, before we tip off for real. We have all of our guys here who are able to play. We get a good chance to look at us against a great (Orlando) team, who has a good post presence and can shoot the ball. This is going to be a good test for us.”