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Anthony Davis will play on Thursday as the Los Angeles Lakers open their seeding game slate against the Los Angeles Clippers, coach Frank Vogel confirmed. He will start alongside LeBron James, JaVale McGee, Danny Green and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, who is replacing Avery Bradley after he opted out of the Disney bubble. 

There was initial concern that Davis' status for the Lakers' restart opener against the Los Angeles Clippers was in jeopardy, but after being evaluated Wednesday morning, he will be ready for that matchup. Davis said that his eye is "getting better" and the plan is for him to play against the Clippers on Thursday so things clearly remained on track for the All-Star following the team's practice on Wednesday.

The Lakers can afford to be cautious with Davis if they need to be from a minutes perspective. Their lead for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference is 5.5 games, meaning that three wins out of eight would guarantee them the top spot. In all likelihood, they will keep it regardless. Heading into Orlando, Davis said that the hiatus from the game while the league was suspended due to the outbreak of the coronavirus really benefited him as he was able to rest and recover from some other lingering injury issues. 

[The time away] gave me a chance to let my body recover," Davis said earlier this month. "Kind of take a midseason break and let everything heal, get back to like how I was at the beginning of the year. It's been good for me to let some of the lingering injuries I had towards the time when the NBA stopped to let those recover and heal and get back into the best version of myself. I feel 100 percent healthy. Well, I don't feel, I am. I'm ready to go."  

The fact that Davis entered the bubble in Orlando feeling 100 percent is great news for the Lakers, as they will need him to be fully healthy and at his best if they hope to leave Orlando with an NBA title. From the sounds of it, the injury that Davis suffered to his eye appears to be a minor one and that he will be back to full strength soon enough.