Is Anthony Davis playing tonight against the Houston Rockets? | 2020-21 NBA season

The reigning champions, LA Lakers, host the struggling Houston Rockets on Wednesday. Anthony Davis carried the team on his shoulders for back-to-back victories despite LeBron James' absence. They crushed the Phoenix Suns and defeated the New York Knicks in overtime. James is reportedly planning on lacing up against the Houston Rockets. Fans will be excited to see Davis and James finally on the court together.

LeBron James is going to give that right ankle one more day of rest today vs. Knicks -- and target a return on Wednesday vs. Rockets, sources tell @mcten and me.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 11, 2021

However, in an unfortunate news report after the Knicks encounter, we learned that Davis might miss the game against the Rockets.

Anthony Davis could miss the game while LeBron James eyes return

LeBron James and Anthony Davis of the LA Lakers.

Anthony Davis has apparently been playing through injury. He tweaked his ankle against the scorer's table during the game against the LA Clippers and didn't return, citing back spasms. Davis, as we know, is an injury-prone player and the LA Lakers are doing the best they can to avoid risking their star forward's health.

Anthony Davis spoke about his condition after the Knicks game, saying:

"I'm hurting...Not more so my body, just my groin got tight. ... I'm not sure about [Wednesday]. I mean, I'm going to get treatment and see how I feel. I want to say I'm going to play, but it was really bothering me tonight. We'll see how I feel tomorrow, and then later on in the day....Very, very strong possibility that I fight through it and play since the next day is an off day. But I also don't want to have this lagging and then now I'm out for a couple games."

As Anthony Davis mentioned, he is fighting through injury and isn't sure about his status for the Rockets game. The fixture is the tail-end of a back-to-back and given that the matchup is against a bottom-table injury-riddled Houston Rockets team, coach Frank Vogel might decide to give Anthony Davis the rest he so clearly needs.

AD says the Lakers are playing "desperate," says "there's no way I was coming out" even though his groin was in fact "really bothering him" by the end of the game. Will wait until tomorrow to get a feel for his status vs the Rockets.

— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) May 12, 2021

If LeBron James is indeed back, he can certainly take this LA Lakers squad to a victory against the Houston Rockets.

However, the point of concern is the lack of chemistry between the starters. The game was supposed to be a building block for their playoff push as the LA Lakers try to build chemistry and momentum before the play-in tournament. However, LeBron James might have to play with Andre Drummond and the crew minus Davis, which takes away another opportunity to see the LA Lakers at somewhat full strength.

LA Lakers head coach Frank Vogel spoke about the importance of the entire team being available for a game. He said:

"The thing we talk about all the time is being a team-first team...That everybody matters, everybody's got to stay ready. That's never been more true than the last couple weeks, when guys were called upon where they weren't expecting it and they come in and step up. ... Just speaks to our identity that every player matters, every player's important, and we're going to need everyone."