Anthony Davis injury update: Pelicans star could return next week after visiting hand specialist, per agent

The New Orleans Pelicans took a hit when leading man Anthony Davis suffered a finger injury last Friday against the Trail Blazers. X-Rays after the game came back negative, and the team announced that he was expected to miss 1-2 weeks with a finger sprain. However, after a few days, there was fear that Davis had suffered a fracture after all, and could miss 2-to-4 weeks.  

The team, however, received some good news on Wednesday. 

After seeing a hand specialist this week, doctors determined that Davis does indeed have a volar plate fracture in his finger, but despite that his timeline for recovery isn't expected to increase. In fact, he could return as soon as next week, according to Davis' agent Rich Paul. He also said "it's a better outcome than we originally feared." Davis will be re-evaluated every few days to see how he is progressing. 

That's obviously good news for the Pelicans, who are back in action against the Pistons on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET -- watch on fuboTV with the NBA League Pass extension). They're currently in the 12th spot in an extremely competitive Western Conference and need Davis, who is having a monster season with averages of 29.3 points, 13.3 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 2.6 blocks per game. They're just 2-4 this season without Davis in the lineup, so obviously they'll want him back as soon as possible.