DALLAS — Star power forward/center Anthony Davis exited Wednesday’s game in the first quarter against the Indiana Pacers with what the Dallas Mavericks described as left lower leg soreness.
The team ruled out Davis at halftime of a 107-105 win.
Davis came up gingerly after scoring and signaled to the bench that he needed to exit the game. He crouched down on the sideline for several seconds when the Mavs called a timeout with 4:12 remaining in the first quarter and then headed to the locker room for further evaluation.
“He tried to return — didn’t want to take any chances,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd said. “We’ll see how he feels moving forward.”
Davis had been listed as probable on the pregame injury report because of bilateral Achilles tendinopathy.
Davis, 32, played in only nine regular-season games for Dallas last season after arriving as the centerpiece in the return package of the controversial Luka Doncic trade.
Davis was recovering from an abdominal injury at the time of the trade and strained his adductor in his Dallas debut. That adductor injury sidelined Davis for six weeks.
The Mavs entered Wednesday’s game without three key rotation players. Star guard Kyrie Irving has no timetable to return from a torn ACL suffered in March. Center Daniel Gafford has yet to play this season after spraining his ankle in the first practice of training camp, and center Dereck Lively II sat out his second straight game because of a sprained knee.
